Stephanie's Crystal Beasts: Duelist Kingdom
by Princess Luka Vocalzal
Summary: Au. Lars' return is shattered when Stephanie returns home to find her family gone and an invitation to Duelist Kingdom in their place. Teaming up with a healed Jasper, a remorseful Bismuth and a reluctant Peridot and Lapis, Stephanie must keep her gem a secret as she climbs through the tournament to save her family, whilst aiding a new group of friends.
1. Chapter 1

**HEY READ THIS BEFORE YOU READ THE STORY!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own YuGiOh nor their original characters nor do I own Steven Universe and any of its original characters.**

 **Hey, I know I got a lot to catch up but bear with me, I'm working on it! I just got this idea for a new crossover in my head and it just wouldn't leave me alone until I wrote it down! I mean if you think about, in Steven Universe, the Gem War ended five thousand years ago, roughly around Atem's time as pharaoh, so the realm of possibilites are endless! Honestly I'm surprised this sort of crossover isn't more thoroughly explored, even just in one-shot form.**

 **Anyways, this is also going to yes, yet another genderbend story, featuring a female-version of Steven called Stephanie, being the only genderbent character. Also, having seen the Heart of the Crystal Gem arch, this will be taking place after Jasper's corruption and before Lapis' fleeing with the barn to the moon, thus before A Single Pale Rose, so no one apart from Pearl knows about Pink Diamond and hasn't met the White Diamond yet. Also, for a bit of AU-ing, Lars has arrived on Earth with the Off-Colors, which is where this is starting off.**

 **Okay, everyone caught up? Even the little ones? Good, let's start this off!**

* * *

Stephanie couldn't remember the last time she got to hang out with her friends properly without one of the Crystal Gems acting escort or a Corrupted Gem, or Stars forbid, a Homeworld Gem ruining her fun. Heck, she couldn't even remember the last time she had such fun period and really relax since before Jasper's looming rampage, much less see just how much she needed her pure human friends.

When Lars finally returned, she couldn't have been happier. Her best friend was back on the planet where he belonged. But, almost immediately, Stephanie noticed something off with the space pirate almost immediately. When she had last seen him before his arrival to Earth just a two weeks ago, he was his, for her, normal, lively and witty self that he had become during his escapades as a pirate, the lifestyle causing him to discover the part of himself he thought no longer existed. But when he returned, he was strangely stiff and somewhat less playful, he wasn't back to his previous grouchy self, but he seemed...somewhat a bit distant, even with his crew and Sadie, more reserved, there was a sudden wisdom in his eyes that didn't belong to someone his age, rather, someone much, much older.

She didn't get long to dwell on it long, Sadie suggested to celebrate Lars return with a day at the beach, which no one disagreed with and to start introducing the Off-Colors to Earth life. Sadie and the Cool Kids took to the Off-Colors immediately, though Ronaldo needed a lot of convincing that they weren't there to abduct anyone and to leave his camera at home. They taught them how to swim and how to play volleyball, which had been a hoot with Padparacha cheering for every point just seconds after it was made.

It had become late into the night when Stephanie finally made it home, having stopped along the way to help a gaggle of baby turtles to the ocean, using her shield to protect them from seagulls, wearing only her pearl-pink one-piece swim-suit with its slightly darker pink rose-petal design on it, hair pulled up into a cute little messy ponytail, a white towel around her shoulders.

The first thing she knew was wrong was the fact all the lights were off.

Since the gems didn't need to sleep, Pearl gained the nasty habit of leaving the lights on and waiting patiently for Stephanie when she would be out late, regardless of Garnet's assurances. Another was just how eerily quiet it was, since Amethyst would stay up even later playing the newest RPG game on her laptop, the newest Nicki Manaj hit blaring.

Shrugging, she figured they were just napping, and opened the door with her usual gusto, announcing, "I'm home!" She looked around curiously, "Amethyst? Pearl?" But got no reply, "Garnet?"

Flipping the lights on, Stephanie went room-to-room, calling for each member of the Crystal Gems, but didn't find them nor did she receive any answer. Getting worried, she tried the temple, wondering if they left for a last minute mission and left a note there. Upon entry, she looked around for where they could've left the note.

"Okay," Stephanie said worry in her voice, "Not I'm getting worried." But a sound made her whip around and gasp, towel falling to the ground, finally finding a gem, just not one she had excepted.

The fem was roughly the same size as Garnet, but was physically bulkier, more muscled with a light orange skin tone and darker stripe-like tattoos, her long, wild hair being a white color and her eyes were a smoldering (and surprisingly calm) amber yellow. Her Yellow Diamond Court uniform was torn in random places, mostly around her arms and legs, was a normal shade of orange with accents of a brown color. But the most noticeable feature was the diamond-shaped orange gemstone that replaced her nose, not a single speck of corruption to be seen.

Stephanie froze in fright as the gem just stood there almost apathetically, hand on her hip, both just staring at each other before the taller female simply said, calmly, "Hello, Rose."

"J-Jasper!" Stephanie gasped in shock, "H-H-How...?"

"Beats me," Jasper shrugged casually, "I just woke up here."

Before the hybrid could open her mouth, her happiness and questions regarding Jasper's healing and freedom bubbling to the surface, when a new voice interrupted in a loud bellow, "Stephanie!" Which was followed by another voice screaming in anger, "GET AWAY FROM HER!"

She turned around to look out the cave's mouth to see two gems _flying_ towards. Well, one was flying on a pair of lovely wings made of water, having cyan blue skin with cobalt blue eye and short navy blue hair that had longer bangs, wearing a matching backless halter top, which tied behind her neck with long tails and ankle-length skirt, a Blue Diamond Court symbol halved, the top printed on the top and the bottom half on the front of the waistline of the skirt. The wings came from the teardrop-shaped lapis lazuli gemstone embedded onto her back.

The other gem was significantly shorter and stockier, roughly the same height as Stephanie herself with lime green skin and pale chartreuse yellow hair that was styled up into a tetrahedron shape, a pale yellow visor over her eyes and a little pointed nose. She wore a V-necked uniform being a two-toned green in color with the Yellow Diamond Court symbol on the chest and knees. Her gemstone was a peridot cut in an inverted triangle with flattened corners, located on her forehead.

After setting the green gem down, the blue gem rose her arms up and a large hand of water rose from the shoreline as Jasper just stood there unflinchingly as it moved toward her. Stephanie quickly got in the middle of the hand's path, shouting, "Lapis wait!"

The hand did pause, but the furious look on Lapis Lazuli's face failed to soften or relent as she gritted out, " _Move. Stephanie._ "

"No, I won't!" Stephanie refused then questioned, "What are you two doing here? I thought you were going to look around Big City."

"We were when we got a distress call from the house," The green gem, Peridot, explained using her own ferrokinesis to bring a pipe over from a pile the Crystal Gems began making so she had something to practice her new ability with, and she eyed Jasper suspiciously, "And it's a good thing came back early."

Lapis snorted disdainfully, "Clearly."

"Guys, c'mon," Stephanie pleaded trying to defuse the situation, "If Jasper was still that mad she would've attacked me when she saw the Crystal Gem weren't here the moment I got home, but she didn't, she even has the perfect opportunity right now and look at her!" She motioned to the quartz soldier, who just continued to stand there calmly, absolutely no sign of hostility or violence coming off her, "She hasn't tried once!"

Peridot and Lapis both hated to admit it, but they both knew that the pink gem hybrid had a pretty valid point, Lapis more so than Peridot. Before, Jasper always had an varying expression of anger or annoyance, they've never seen her so calm before, and she had never once hesitated to attack her enemies however, whenever she could, regardless of the situation. Yet, she was just...so calm, it was hard for them to believe this was the same gem.

"Where are the others?" Peridot decided to change the subject, whilst wondering why Garnet, Pearl and Amethyst weren't there to help contain Jasper, "Isn't someone always watching the temple?"

Lapis' eyes narrowed dangerously at Jasper as she demanded, "You shattered them, didn't you? You-!"

Jasper cut off her attempt to rant and accuse with a simple, yet blunt, "No, I didn't," Causing Lapis' face to tinge slightly purple with anger, the water arm shaking from her fury, before the orange gem jabbed a thumb at a shadowed corner, adding, "And neither did she."

Stephanie and the two gems looked where she was pointing at as another new gem slowly came out of hiding, causing Stephanie's heart lurch in shock and sorrow, then relief and joy, all at once. She was tall, just slightly taller than Garnet with a bulky, muscled figure and broad shoulders, and short arms. Her hair, which was styled in dreadlocks, was rainbow-colored, matching concaved bismuth gemstone on her chest and her eyes were black, her skin being a periwinkle bluish-gray, a smokey dark red star-tattoo on her left shoulder. Her outfit consisted of a black apron with a brownish attachment and a pinkish-red star-shaped belt, burgundy-red pants and thick, dark brown boots. Her expression was one of reasonable remorse and guilt, all anger she held over the Breaking Point incident was gone.

Stephanie didn't stop her hands from flying to her mouth in shock as she gasped the gem's name, "B-Bismuth!" Shock and sorrow, as well as her own regrets, was her most dominant emotions at that moment in time as the new gem rubbed at her arm nervously, unable to properly look at her, much to Peridot and Lapis' growing confusion.

"Hi...Steph...err..." Bismuth waved awkwardly with a slightly strained smile, "I...whoah!" She yelped, almost stumbling when the hybrid nearly tackled her to the ground in a hug.

But Stephanie had becoming an emotional mess, hands fisting tightly into Bismuth's apron, almost threatening to tear the material, repeatedly saying 'sorry' over and over. At this point, Peridot and Lapis dropped their ability to remain hostile, not with their little friend like that, as the pipe Peridot had been levitating fell to the ground and the hand Lapis had formed finally returned to the sea, whilst Jasper just stood there, looking away awkwardly and Bismuth slowly hugged the normally cheerful girl back, her own tears beginning to trickle down her face, trying to console her.

The five females moved into the house as it got colder with Bismuth setting the still upset Stephanie on the couch as Peridot, ironically, assuming Pearl's usual bustling in the kitchen whilst Lapis fetched a blanket to wrap around Stephanie, who was still in her bathing suit, towel forgotten outside. Jasper and Bismuth both arched a brow at the steaming cup of brown liquid that Peridot handed the smallest gem.

It was Jasper who finally spoke up, while pointing bluntly at the cup, "What...is that?"

"It's hot chocolate," Peridot answered after seeing Lapis, who was leaning far away against a wall in a brooding fashion, was still in a sour mood, "Humans usually make it when its really cold, but I've seen Pearl and Garnet make it plenty of times whenever Steph gets this upset, so I figured it'd help."

As the technician talked, Stephanie started taking tentative sips of her drink and, sure enough, she began to calm down, much to Bismuth's relief. After a moment of silence, the sole organic finally asked, "How...how are you two...free?"

"To be honest, I have no clue whatsoever," Jasper surprisingly answered before Bismuth could open her mouth, "The last thing I remember was a pale light and a voice, the next, I was reforming in that...room...with her," Again, Jasper jabbed a thumb in Bismuth's direction, "With no one else, gem or otherwise, around and packages for Rose."

"I'm not my mo-" Stephanie started to correct, only to realize what the quartz soldier had said and paused in confusion, "Packages? What packages?"

In response, Jasper brought her hand up to her gem, like how Stephanie had seen Pearl do when she summoned something from within her own gemstone. Sure enough, the orange stone glowed, before ejecting a small(ish) package wrapped in the traditional brown paper with a letter taped to it.

"I got the other one," Bismuth said as Jasper set the parcel down in front of Stephanie, "But the note one the letter said to read the letter first, then open this package before the other one."

Arching her brow at the oddly pasific instructions, Stephanie shrugged before carefully removing the envelope from the package. She looked at the back to see said instructions before carefully opening it, she then began to read the letter aloud:

 _"Dear Stephanie Lily Quartz-Universe, I hope this letter finds you and your four companions on more stable ground. I assume by now you realize the three women you've known as family are missing. In this package I have disclosed the means to allow you, Peridot, Jasper, Lapis and Bismuth to get back."_

Curious and worried, Lapis opened the package to find tin boxes with hers, Peridot's, Jasper's and Bismuth's gemstone printed on the lids, as well as a jewelry case. She picked up the one with her teardrop cut and opened it to find of deck of odd looking cards.

 _"For Lapis Lazuli, a deck as in tuned with the sea as she is."_

"Cards?" Lapis asked in confusion as she looked through the cards to find one side of each card were varying, beautiful pictures of strange creatures, items and scenes. She took one out to look at it closer. The picture depicted a human girl with blue hair, a different shade from her own, holding a staff. At the top of the card was what she assumed was the card's name, along with orangey-yellow stars and a blue circle in the corner. Beneath the picture was text and beneath that was a bunch of letters and numbers.

Lapis read the name of the card aloud, "Erika the Water Charmer..."

"That's a Duel Monster deck!" Stephanie gasped with big, star-filled eyes as the other three pure gems picked up their respected box and the halfling was a little disappointed to see none for her.

"Duel... _Monsters...?_ " Peridot repeated both a bit perplexed and a little wary, as were the other three.

"Its a really popular card game that originated in Japan, my friend Sour Cream told me about, I even watched him and the other Cool Kids duel a few times," Stephanie explained leaning over towards Lapis, who kept looking through her cards, "Monster cards are various cause they come in different types; like attributes, like fire or water, in level, tribes; like spellcaster or fairy, some have effects, others don't, spell cards and trap cards act as supports for each," She then gave the blue gem a smile, "Looks like a deck based on Water Monsters, it suits you!"

Lapis smiled back a little, genuinely pleased with her deck as well as the praise. Bismuth then opened hers next as Stephanie resumed reading:

 _"For Bismuth, a deck as unique and as strong as her passions."_

Bismuth looked through the cards, holding them gingerly and carefully, finding each creature resembled some sort of lizard, a good amount of them having wings. She paused at a blue one with webbed wings that were attached to its arms and read the name out loud, "Blizzard Dragon..."

"Looks like a Dragon-based deck," Stephanie commented, "They're pretty heavy hitters." Bismuth smiled at this as Jasper opened hers next.

 _"For Jasper, a legion of warrior women who are fierce and powerful."_

Jasper looked through her new cards carefully with a critical eye. Most of her creatures were organic females wearing strange and revealing clothes with wild appearances, save one. The one she paused on resembled a large predator cat with orange fur with black striped and white underbelly, having green eyes and wore gold bracelets and a matching collar.

Jasper read its name in a thoughtful tone, "Amazoness Tiger." She looked at Stephanie, who had an equally thoughtful look on her face.

"I think Amazoness is a new deck arch-type based of the Amazons of Greek Mythology, an all female warrior race," The pink gem explained, "Sounds like an all Warrior deck, well, except for Amazoness Tiger, she's a Beast." Jasper lips twitched at this, despite not understanding most of what she was saying, eyes shining appreciatively at Amazoness Tiger.

 _"And for Peridot, a deck that reflects what she can be."_

Peridot frowned and scoffed at this as she opened the container, " _'Can be'_ , now what's _that_ suppose to mean?" She shifted through the cards and found a majority of the creatures were very human like.

Like the others, she paused on one that caught her eye. This one being a human woman wearing a strange blood red bodysuit with ash-gray skin, long coal-black hair that was tipped red and her lips were a bold, blood red as well.

Unable to help herself, she read the name out loud, "Elemental Hero Burstinatrix."

"The Elemental Heroes are a brand new arch type, too," Stephanie said trying to hide her smile and contain her amusement at the irony of the match-up, "It's high in Warrior-type monsters and being big on Fusion Material monsters." The gems were understandably surprised.

"Fusion?!" Peridot yelped almost throwing her cards.

"Yeah, that was my reaction when I found out about Fusion Monsters, too," Stephanie giggled, "Though, you need special cards to do it," At their confused looks, she explained, "You can make a fusion with certain cards, such as pacific monsters and a Polymerization card, you can't merge random monsters like you can with gems."

"Oh stars..." Peridot groaned making Lapis giggle despite her own reservations on the subject of fusion. Jasper just rolled her eyes whilst Bismuth looked confused but didn't say anything.

Stephanie picked up the jewelry case and looked it over. It didn't have any store brand on it nor did it look familiar from any normal non-brand using store she had ever been in. It was actually really plain looking, covered in pictures and was surprisingly wood-made in a light creamy color and on closer inspection she realized the pictures were actually ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics. She looked at the letter again.

 _"As for you, Lady Universe, I give you a tool to put you on even ground with your family's captor. I warn you, Lady Universe, this is a very, **very** dangerous foe, he will not hesitate to exploit your every weakness and use all his power to get what he wants. You must never take this gift off I sent you off or you will be completely at his mercy. I bid you and your friends the best of luck. Signed, a future-friend."_

This made three of the four gems visibly tense, though Jasper's eyes narrowed at the underlying, yet clear threat, in the letter. Someone was after Stephanie, and as much as Jasper still held a bit of reservation towards the hybrid, the fact that the same someone (it sounded like an organic male) somehow disarmed and poofed the Crystal Gems without much of a struggle is what concerned Jasper.

Stephanie set the box in her lap after setting the letter down, then she opened it and gasped at what was inside of it. It was a beautiful, no, gorgeous pair of antique, or relic-worthy, pair of golden earrings crafted in the shape of ancient Egyptian ankht crosses with an Eye of Horus carved into each, tiny cushion-cut rubies served as the little studs to keep the earrings from falling out.

"Whoah..." Peridot gasped in awe, even a technician like her could appreciate how well-made they were and was already speculating how old they could be. "They're beautiful..." Lapis said also in awe.

"How are those," Bismuth said skeptically, motioning to the earrings, "Suppose to protect you?"

"I don't know," Stephanie admitted as she relucantly put them on, replacing her little gold hoops with them, whilst really hoping these rubies weren't sentiment at one point, only to become distracted by how light the gold crosses were, considering they were solid gold and nearly touched her shoulders.

Bismuth sighed at this, before lifting her hands to either side of her gem to summon another package from within it and handed it to the half-gem, "Guess you can open this one then." Stephanie did so.

She first took out a maroon-colored, fingerless glove with a grey ring attached to the wrist. Ten star-shaped holes were carved into the ring itself, two gold star already filled two of the slots.

"Aren't those things supposed to come in pairs?" Peridot asked and Stephanie shrugged before setting it down.

She then took out two new cards. One was called 'the King's Hand', which had a picture of a grand treasure trove on it. The other was called 'the King's Opposite Hand', which was completely blank.

"Weird," Stephanie muttered eyes narrowing at them, "These aren't monster cards." She set them down on the table next to the glove, face-down, finding them creepy, but smiled as she pulled out a deck-container and like the others, her gemstone's shape decorated the top of the lid, and she silently cheered at finally having her own deck.

She quickly opened it and looked the cards over, only for her face to morph into a look of utter shock. "What's wrong, brat?" Jasper asked.

"These...these are gems!" Stephanie said much to their own shock, "Look." She held out the cards and as the four looked, sure enough, each beast-like creature had a gemstone with armor that matched said gemstone, which was also in their name. Amethyst Cat, Emerald Tortoise, Ruby Carbuncle. It went on.

"That's just freaky and weird," Bismuth said catching Peridot, who jumped into her arms from shock and being freaked out. "How-I-it-ugh-!" Jasper spluttered.

Lapis then reached in and took out a video tape and everyone lapsed into silence as Bismuth set Peridot down. "Should we watch it?" Peridot asked. "I don't know, Peridot," Lapis said holding it at arms length uneasily. "Yeah, this is just getting weird," Stephanie agreed, "I mean how could the person who sent the letter, earrings and your decks know you and Lapis would return early or that Bismuth and Jasper would be free?"

Despite seeing her point, Peridot took the tape, unable to help her curiosity, while saying, "What harm can come from playing such a primitive form of technology?" That said, Peridot put the tape in and turned on the TV, grabbed the remote, sat down and pressed play.

Sitting in a nice chair on screen was a human man, roughly in his mid-thirties with a slim build with shoulder-length, silver hair that had a curtain-effect, hiding one half of his face, his sole visible eye being a maroon-brown in color. He wore a fine, wine-red suit that reminded Bismuth, Jasper and Peridot of the gem elites.

"Greetings, Stephanie Lily Quartz-Universe," The man said voice smooth and controlled, making the gems tense. Stephanie, however, became nervous and wary, her voice stuttering, "H-H-How does he k-k-know my n-n-name?"

"I know a great many things, my dear," Surprisingly, it was the man who answered her, "Including your dearly departed mother, Rose Quartz, leader of the Crystal Gems," Now it was Stephanie's turn to tense as the other four shot to their feet, "Speaking of which, notice anyone missing?"

"What do you want?" Stephanie asked, "Who are you?"

"I am Maximillion Pegasus, owner of Industrial Illusions," The man introduced himself, "And I merely wish to extended a formal invitation to you, Little Quartz."

"An invitation?" Bismuth questioned in disbelief, "An invitation to what?"

"Now, now, that would be telling wouldn't it?" Pegasus chuckled much to the blacksmith's frustration, "But for now, how about a friendly little gem?" A bright yellow glow came through the TV screen, making all five girls shriek in surprise, arms up to protect their eyes.

Stephanie slowly lowered her arms when the light died to find everything had been drained of color, even the other four gems, leaving her in some sort of black void-like dimension. None of the four gems were moving nor did they talk or continue to shriek, they simply remained shielding their eyes and silent, much to Stephanie's increasing worry.

She looked ahead, only to jump with a startled yelp to find Pegasus no longer in the TV, but in the room with her, still sitting in his chair, a table with a card grid between them. She looked back to see the living room and the remaining four gems a distance away and she was now seated in a chair similar to the one Pegasus was sitting in.

But when she looked down at herself, she nearly jumped right out of her new seat from shock. Her bathing suit had somehow been replaced with a dress that was disturbingly similar to Sapphire's, only its base color was a light blush-pink with a darker over skirt and the sleeves were slightly off the shoulder, and were a whitish-pink, and in the place of the pinafore was a white apron. She was even wearing baby pink, elbow-long gloves with a lace trim and a hand through her hair found a matching headband. Lifting the skirt found a pair of peachy-pink ballet flats and a quick hand to her ear confirmed she still had the gold earrings on.

"Okay, what is going on?" Stephanie demanded.

"A simple little duel, of course," Pegasus replied casually as if talking about the weather, "Win and I'll return your little gems."

 _'So he did take them...' _Stephanie narrowed her eyes, but pulled at her new dress irritation seeping into her voice as she asked incredulously, "And this?"

"What?" Pegasus asked innocently, "Pink is your color," She glared at him and he chuckled teasingly, "Besides, did you _really_ want to sit there in your swimsuit?" Stephanie blushed brightly, only now remembering that she hadn't changed out of her swimsuit since she got home. This, coupled with her silence was all the answer he needed.

"So," Pegasus continued more casually, re-grabbing her attention, "Are you up to the challenge, Little Quartz?"

Stephanie hesitated, clutching her new deck, unsure if she could gamble more than half her family's freedom in a game she had never actually played before. But suddenly, the eyes of her earrings released a blinding white light, catching Stephanie by surprise, and at the same time, from under the apron, her gemstone glowed a brilliant pink light.

Startled, all Stephanie could do was close her eyes as a strange, but warm sensation took over her and everything became hazy. The last thing she was aware of was her mouth opening and her own voice crying out with an echo to it, "DAIYAMONDORAITO!"* As the two lights blended together.

When the now pale pink light died down, it revealed had undergone a transformation. She was still petite, only growing to about Pearl or Lapis' chin or nose in height and had slimmed out, losing her childish-innocent features; her face had become more heart-shaped with slightly higher cheek-bone, losing its roundness. Her dress had been altered to suit her new curves. Her eyes were still closed and her earrings were still glowing, so was her gemstone, the outline of which was just barely seen through the fluttering fabric, and tattooed on her forehead was a glowing light pink Eye of Horus, but tattoo on each cheek was a matching glowing mark that resembled orchid flower or a rose.

When the three 'tattoos' disappeared, Stephanie opened her eyes, revealing they were no longer round, innocent or deep brown. Now, they were narrowed, almond-shaped and a gorgeous magenta pink. Her two-toned hair had grown out a bit, nearly ghosting her shoulders in a fluffy mass of pale pink locks topped with an ebony black patch atop her head.

"Pegasus," She said voice different as well, no longer lively or child-like, but cold and older, "It's time to duel."

She stared Pegasus down hard with cold, yet confident pink-colored eyes in a way that would have many normal man shivering, but Pegasus merely looked back her, complete unfazed by her change, rather, he had a smug smile on his face. Instead, his eye traveled to her out of place earrings then down to her stomach where her gemstone was concealed.

"My, my," He chuckled, "Someone's certainly full of surprises."

Stephanie narrowed her eyes at him unimpressed as she made a sharp, cutting motion with one hand, "Cut the chatter, are we going to duel or what?" This just made him chuckle again.

"But of course," Pegasus said placing his deck on the table and Stephanie did the same, "I trust you know the rules."

"Yes, we each start with two thousand life points," She answered briskly, "First to lose all their life points loses."

"Normally, yes," Pegasus nodded looking a fair bit pleased, "But _this_ little game is going to be a bit different."

"Different?" Stephanie asked arching a brow, "Different how? We start with more than two thousand life points?"

"No, my dear," Pegasus replied before looking up and she did the same to see a large, antique-looking hourglass floating above them with a pre-set timer of fifteen minutes beneath it, "For this duel, we will have a time limit of fifteen minutes and the one with the most life points by the end wins, simple."

Stephanie closed her eyes once more, taking a deep breath, _'I can do this...'_ Before steeling her nerve and opened her eyes to level him with a determined-defiance, "Alright, Pegasus, let's duel!"

Pegasus smiled at this, "Splendid." They shuffled their decks and then drew five cards each.

 **Pegasus: 2000**

 **Stephanie: 2000**

Pegasus drew a sixth card as he stated, "I'll start us off..." He then placed a card face-down, "Now it's your turn, Little Quartz."

Stephanie visibly bristled at the re-occurring nickname, but didn't say anything as she drew, then she looked at her hand. She had two spell cards: Swords of Revealing Light and Crystal Release. She also had three monsters: Emerald Tortoise, Topaz Tiger and Sapphire Pegasus. Her new card was a trap card: Crystal Raigeki.

"I summon Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger!" Stephanie declared putting down the card, only to gasp in shock at what happened next.

There was a flash of light atop the card, before a white tiger with blacks sticking out of its ankles and head with topaz gemstones embedded into its neck appeared with an almighty roar. Its eyes were a stunning orangey-yellow.

 **Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: BEAST. Lv: 4. ATK/DEF: 1600/1000.**

"Not so fast!" Pegasus grinned giving Stephanie no time to recover from her shock as he turned his face-down over, "I play my face-down; the Hunter's Trap; it captures any and all Beast-type Monsters!"

A net appeared and shot forth, snaring Topaz Tiger and held it prisoner by hovering off the ground. Topaz Tiger yowled indigently and struggled in a vain attempt for freedom.

"What?" Stephanie gaped in shock, "But how could you have possibly known I'd play a Beast-Type monster?"

"I can predict all your moves, even before you can think them yourself," Pegasus smiled at her, "Quite the advantage, no?" Stephanie growled quietly at this, "Now I believe it's my turn." He drew and simply placed another card face-down.

"Alight," Stephanie said drawing another card herself, "I summon Sapphire Pegasus!"

Her new monster resembled the legendary winged-steed with its pearl-white coat and mane and yellow feathered wings. It had twin sapphire gemstone embedded into the 'elbows' of its wings and its horn appeared to be made of sapphire as well. Its eyes were a deep green.

 **Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus. Attribute: WIND. Tribe: BEAST/EFFECT. ATK/DEF: 1800/1600.**

"Then I reveal my own monster," Pegasus countered, "The Monster Tamer." The image of a dark-skinned man wearing a red turban and toga holding a whip appeared.

 **Monster Tamer. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: WARRIOR/EFFECT. Lv: 5. ATK/DEF: 1800/1600**

"But its attack is the same as Sapphire Pegasus," Stephanie said unsure of what he was planning, "They'll just destroy each other."

"That maybe true, but my Tamer can take control of another monster to do it for him," Pegasus explained with a smug smile. "What?" Stephanie gasped in shock before realization set in and her eyes widened, "Topaz!"

"Monster Tamer!" Pegasus grinned, "Take control of her tiger!" Monster Tamer's whip glowed with blood red runes before swinging it to strike Topaz Tiger several times, making her yowl in pain, much to Stephanie's horror, before the net fell apart, causing her to fall to the ground.

When Topaz Tiger got back up, her eyes turned red before it rushed to joined Monster Tamer on Pegasus' side of the field, than she growled at her former Mistress. Stephanie recoiled in horrified-fright at the utter blood-thirst in her tiger's eyes.

"I'm sure you're aware that Topaz Tiger's ability allows it to gain four hundred attack points once it declares an attack," Pegasus commented idly as she grinted her teeth in annoyance, "Go, Topaz Tiger, attack her Sapphire Pegasus!"

 **Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger ATK/DEF: 2000/1000**

"No, Sapphire!" Stephanie cried out as Topaz Tiger pounced, reducing Sapphire Pegasus to tiny shards of white light, which slowly disappeared as her life points dropped as a result, followed by Topaz Tiger's ATK points.

 **Stephanie LPs: 1800**

 **Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger ATK/DEF: 1600/1000**

Stephanie cringed as she watched the shards that had once been her monster. This was starting to be a little _too_ real.

"I believe its your turn now, Little Quartz," Pegasus said.

Stephanie went to play her Emerald Tortoise, believing it to best to go with her best defense, but paused as a thought crossed her mind, never noticing her earrings glow a pale yellow, _'If he really can predict what I'm going to do, then maybe I can play sneaky.' _This in mind, she locked eyes firmly with Pegasus, shivering a little when she did, as she drew a new card from her deck and then placed it face-down without once looking at it. This leap of faith caused Pegasus to arch an eyebrow in surprise.

 _'I thought she'd go defensive with her Emerald Tortoise,'_ He mused but shrugged it off, _'Oh well,'_ He drew and said aloud, "Very well, Topaz Tiger, attack her face-down!"

When Stephanie flipped her monster over and it appeared like Topaz Tiger and Sapphire Pegasus had, it revealed itself to be a sizable quail bird with a leaf-green chest and a darker, forest green colored its back and wings with a black trimming. It wore a silvery-gray chest plate that had a beautiful, oval-shaped, green nephrite gemstone in the center, a matching helmet with a similar gemstone encased its head, framing its forehead to let its head-feather hang free. Its eyes were a gorgeous shade of robin egg blue.

 **Crystal Beast Nephrite Quail. Attribute: WIND. Tribe: WINGED-BEAST/EFFECT. Lv: 5. ATK/DEF: 2000/1500.**

"And unfortunately for you, Pegasus, she gains four hundred attack and defense points for every one of her Crystal comrades on the field," Stephanie grinned as Nephrite Quail swiftly avoided Topaz Tiger's claws. "Making her stronger than Topaz Tiger!" Nephrite Quail leapt into the air and spread her wings, landing elegantly on Topaz Tiger's back as the edge's of her wings glowed a pale green.

 **Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger. ATK/DEF: 2000/1000**

 **Crystal Beast Nephrite Quail. ATK/DEF: 2400/1900**

"Now counter-attack!" Stephanie ordered.

In response, Nephrite Quail leapted into the air and spun, firing glowing, dagger-like feathers, impaling and destroying her fellow Crystal Beast. It landed gracefully as its wings stopped glowing but kept a tense stance, awaiting her next order.

 **Pegasus LPs: 1600.**

 **Crystal Beast Nephrite Quail. ATK/DEF: 2000/1500**

Stephanie smiled, pleased with making a dent in the older duellist's life points, but Pegasus chuckled making her frown, "Well played, Little Quartz, but can you keep up?" He drew and declared, "Becase I summon Illusionist Faceless Mage in Attack Mode!"

The creature that appeared was human looking, well, as human as being three-headed and yellow-skinned got. One head had a boy's face, one had a girl's and the one in the middle was faceless and it wore some kind of orange robe of sorts. It creeped Stephanie out to no end.

 **Illusionist Faceless Mage. Attribute: DARK. Tribe: SPELLCASTER/EFFECT. Lv: 5. ATK/DEF: 1200/2000**

And it made Stephanie suspicious. Why would an older, more exprienced duellist like Pegasus play a monster much weaker than hers? Which had over nineteen hundred. It didn't make much sense to her. But Pegasus didn't much time to mull it over.

"And I will equip it with the spell card The Eye of Illusion," Pegasus continued, "Now, attack Nephrite Quail." His mage lunged making both bird and mistress tense, only for it to suddenly stop and, to Stephanie, nothing happened. Nephrite Quail looked over her shoulder at her mistress confused for a moment, but focused back on the task at hand.

"Alright, my move and I summon Jasper Rhino!" Stephanie siad as she drew a card and played it, "Your mage stands no chance against her unstoppable charge!"

Her new monster was a mighty rhinoceros with a tawny-orangey colored body and had gleaming horns made of a familiar orange stone, matching the gemstone decorating her gold armor and anklets. Lighter, more orange, scar-like marks decorated her skin and her eyes were a vibrant purple. She stomped the field with a powerful bellow, then raked her hind feet and blew hot air out her nose, and unless Stephanie imagined it, Pegasus looked a little intimaded.

 **Crystal Beast Jasper Rhino. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: BEAST/NORMAL. ATK/DEF: 1750/1800**

 **Crystal Beast Nephrite Quail. ATK/DEF: 2400/1900**

Stephanie then ordered, "Now, attack his mage!"

With another almighty bellow, Jasper Rhino charged full speed at Illusionist Faceless Mage, horn lowered for assualt, but to Stephanie's shock, the spellcaster disappeared, only to switch places with Nephrite Quail, who wings glowed and had a glowing, golden Eye of Horus on her forehead. The bird appeared to be in a trance. When Jasper Rhino got close enough, Nephrite Quail leapt into the air and fired her dagger-like feathers, destroying Jasper Rhino.

"B-B-But how d-?" Stephanie stuttered in shock with wide eyes as her life points fell once again.

 **Stephanie LPs:1550**

 **Crystal Beast Nephrite Quail. ATK/DEF: 2000/1500**

"The Eye of Illusion allows me to take control of a monster on your field for a turn," Pegasus explained as the Eye of Horus disappeared and Nephrite shook herself out of her daze, then looked confused before returning to Stephanie's field, "Now normally I'd go, but I think I'll pass this turn."

Stephanie drew and grinned, "I summon Amber Mammoth!"

The creature that appeared was a large elephant-like creature covered in dark indigo fur, a shock og grayish-blue hair with six tusks and red eyes. Resting on its forehead was an amber gemstone.

 **Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: BEAST/EFFECT. Lv: 4. ATK/DEF: 1700/1600**

 **Crystal Beast Nephrite Quail. ATK/DEF: 2400/1900**

Amber Mammoth reared back and gave an almighty war-cry of a trumpet before slamming her front feet back down with enough force to make the table shake. She leveled her opponent with a steely stare, much to Pegasus' amusement.

"Attack!" Stephanie ordered and, like Jasper Rhino, Amber Mammoth charged, tusks lowered for maxium damage.

But before Amber Mammoth could so much as graze Illusionist Faceless Mage, she suddenly froze and a loud buzz noise made Stephanie blink before looking up as the monsters all disappeared. The hourglass had emptied into its bottom half and the timmer was all zeros. She had lost.

"Time is _up_ , Little Quartz!" Pegasus suddenly gave her an evil grin, "And now I take my prize!"

"Prize?" Stephanie gaped at him in disbelieved-anger, "You already took closest thing I'll ever have to a mother and a big sisters! What more do you want from me?"

"What I _want_ , Little Quartz, is for you to participate in the Duel Monsters Tournament I'm hosting on my own personal island," Pegasus explained with a wicked grin on his face, "But I think you need a little...extra incentive, especially if you think you can pull a wool over my eyes with one of your _other_ gem friends."

Stephanie just stared at him with grinted teeth and nothing sort of anger in her newly pink-colored eyes. It irriated her to no end that he would think she wouldn't go herself to rescue Pearl, Ameythst and Garnet(or Ruby and Sapphire, assuming had unfused at some point), also, she was very wary and considerably worried about who else would be dragged into this...whatever this was.

"Hmm, now, who's life would you be less willing to gamble with?" Pegasus wondered idly, whilst childishly tapping a finger against his chin, "You valvue all of your relationships so greatly and you have so many, its almost impossible to chose just one."

Stephanie gasped as window-like panels appeared around them, circling them. Each one served as a peek into the lifes of each of her friends: Sour Cream was tucking Onion into bed, Vidalia watching from the doorway, Buck was in his room sketching, Jenny and Kiki were playing cards with their dad, Ronaldo and Peedee were with their dad, Jamie was on his bike, Connie was having supper with her parents, Sadie was in her kitchen and Lars was showing his parents the outside of his ship. All of them were froze in mid-action, like still-shots. Strangely, their were none of Bismuth, Peridot, Lapis or Jasper or even the Off-Colors.

"No," Pegasus said after watching her look around at them in controlled worry, "I think _this_ one would hurt you the more."

Stephanie looked at him confused before looking at the one he motioned to and she swore her heart stopped and her eyes widened in horror. Looking into the portal, she saw her father, Greg Universe, the only real parent she had ever known, sitting in the back of his van, dressed in a thin set of sweats, frozen like everyone else. His fingers were paused in mid strum of an A-chord, a pen tucked behind his ear and an open notebook in front of him, a look of content and thoughfulness on his unassuming face.

Only one thought kept repeating itself in her mind as her eyes pricked with the threat of tears, _'No, no, no, no, no, no...'_

Pegasus just grinned wickedly and lifted some of his hair, catching Stephanie's attention, to reveal a golden Eye of Horus in the place of a normal eye. It suddenly glowed brightly, forcing Stephanie to shield her face in fear of being blind. At the same time, a similar glow sparked from her earrings, flooding the area as it mixed with Pegasus'.

When the light died down, Stephanie was back to normal, swimsuit and all, the table was gone, as was Pegasus and the hourglass/timer and the window-portals. She looked around confused to find herself back on the couch in her living room, but everything was still frozen and devoid of color. But then she looked forward and saw Greg inside the TV, looking back at her with wide, frightened and confused eyes.

"Steph?" Greg cried out as he pounded his fists uselessly against the glass of the screen, "Stephanie!"

"Dad!" Stephanie cried back rushing to the screen, but he disappeared and was replaced by Pegasus, "Give him back!"

"Now, now, you can have him back and your dear gems, too," Pegasus assured her, "If you enter my tournament and beat me in a duel first; if not, your father's soul and your guardians will remain mine, forever!"

With that, whatever spell had put on the house was broken and light and color returned, along with the other gems' ability to move and speak. But Stephanie ignored them and started pounding on the TV screen in a feeble hope of freeing or, at least, seeing Greg again. But neither he nor Pegasus reappeared.

Bismuth and Jasper both blinked, completely taken aback by who they had both believed to be the great Rose Quartz crying a river of tears as she pounded on the front of the strange box. Lapis and Peridot jumped to their feet from shock.

"Dad! Dad!" Stephanie cried in sorrow before trying to shake the TV, "Give me back my dad! DADDY!" When she didn't the responses she hoped for, Stephanie choked on a sob, before falling quiet for a few seconds.

The four gems became apprehensive at this. It was Lapis who took a step forward, reaching for her friend as she whispered uncertainly, "Stepahnie...?" But recoiled when the girl shook.

Without warning, Stephanie punched the screen full-force with an enraged cry, uncaring for how a few pieces scratched and bit into the skin of her fist, wrist and arm. Instead, she broke down further, full out sobbing and wailing, arms curling instinctively around herself.

* * *

 **Poor Stephanie. Can't Imagine how'd it'd feel to lose the only parent you've ever known. Call me cruel but had no other way to incorporate Greg into the story otherwise. And yeah, Jasper's free and not corrupted and she's not upset with Stephanie anymore, the reason behind that will be explained in the close future, honest!**

 **And yeah I gave her, Lapis, Peridot and Bismuth decks! Tell me what you think, are they good match-ups? I care to think so.**

 **Let me know what you think of Yami-Transformation or whatever you call it. I find it interesting.**

 **Daiyamondoraito*: Is basically Japanese, its means 'diamond light'.**

 **Also, I gave Stephanie Jessie Anderson's deck from YuGiOh GX with some extra monsters. Again let me know what you guys think, especially of the duel scene between her and Pegasus.**

 **Oh and for those who need a visual idea of what Stephanie looks like, it'll be in the cover-image just add pink hair with a patch of black left at the top. As for her Yami-Form, just basically a somewhat taller, less child-like version of her.**

 **Till next time!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own YuGiOh nor their original characters nor do I own Steven Universe and any of its original characters, cause if I did, Rose would've found a way to be able to exist at the same time with Steven! But a girl can dream.**

 **Hey, I'm back and I gotta admit I wasn't expecting such a big like in the beginning of this so I want to shout out a quick thanks to everyone who favorited and followed this, as well as suntan140 who reviewed, and just a quicker shout out to you suntan140, I will be answering your review in the author's note at the bottom of the page.**

 **Anyways, this is picking up right after Stephanie loses her very first duel against Pegasus, who steals Greg's soul, making her punch the TV screen, kinda like in Jungle Moon when Pink Diamond, out of frustration in the memory Stevonnie relives, punches that window at Yellow Diamond's Moon Base. Odd comparison given the circumstances, but it fits. So, let's get on with the chapter!**

* * *

"So," Peridot began whilst rubbing her forehead, minding her gemstone, "Let me see if I get this straight."

She was standing in one for the patient rooms in Beach City Memorial Hospital after she and the other three gems followed a highly distressed and bawling Stephanie to her father's van to discover a disturbing sight. Greg was lying motionless, just barely breathing, staring with an unblinking, unfocused and glazed over, as if in a deep trance in a random direction, all the while completely unresponsive to his daughter's desperate cries and heartbroken pleas. For Lapis, it felt like her gemstone was breaking again watching her little friend weep, and Peridot didn't feel any better.

It took Peridot a good five-ten minutes to get it through both Bismuth and Jasper's heads that this was _not_ normal human behavior and it took another five to convince Lapis to allow either larger gem to carry Greg to the hospital, where he was immediately whisked away by the doctors. Oddly enough, the doctors, not even Dr. Maheswaran, could find anything wrong with Mr. Universe and nothing they did seem to snap him out of it, so they put him in a room with a respirator and heart monitor, and kept an eye on him until they can figure something out.

During all this, it took a while to calm Stephanie down enough for the poor girl to explain what happened, not that it made much sense, even for Crystal Gem business, heck, even Bismuth and Jasper had a hard time wrapping their heads around her attempt to explain what had happened. Stephanie, naturally, had to call her friends, if anything to assure herself that Pegasus hadn't gone after them, and inadvertently ended up with her having to explain what had happened to get her so shaken up to them, which had them all racing to the hospital as soon as she mentioned it, even the Off-Colors, despite their their wariness of the gems, especially Jasper.

Which led to know. Fluorite couldn't fit in the actual building, so she had to bend and peer in through the window Lars opened in the room after pushing the curtains as far apart as they could go for her to see into. Everyone, Connie, Onion, the Cool Kids, the Fryman Brothers, Lars, Sadie, even Jamie and Kevin, and of course the gems themselves, were standing about the room, trying to absorb the information they were just told, the beeps of the monitor filling the room as Greg seemed to sleep. Stephanie herself was sitting in a chair by her father's bedside, a blanket wrapped tightly around her, having once again forgetting to change before she left the house. Mentally, the poor girl was beating herself up for her dad's state and being unable to get the Crystal Gems back.

While Kevin was not close to either Universe, he did care about the young girl in his own way. In a strange way, she reminded him of his younger cousin, always full of positive energy and having a smile on her face. Since he didn't really get to spend much time with his cousin, he guessed he kind of projected his fondness for her onto Stephanie, especially after seeing how socially awkward she was when trying to patch things up with Connie.

Jamie was in a semi-similar boat. While not as stand-off-ish as Kevin was, he was somewhat of a friend to Stephanie despite their somewhat limited daily interaction. Not to say he didn't see her as a friend, he didn't want her or Mr. Universe hurt, he was just more on an awkward level between acquaintance and a low-key-type of friend.

"This Pegasus guy somehow pulled you into a pocket dimension of some sort, to challenge you to a 'duel', if you won he'd return the Crystal Gems, but didn't elaborate what would happen if _he_ won," Peridot summed up though not directly to Stephanie, whilst pacing the room and making gestures as she talked, "And when he lost he revealed a glowing _gold **eye**_ and was back in the TV, claiming to have stolen Greg's soul, which is the part of Greg that makes him, well, Greg." She paused to look around the room for confirmation, but no one said anything at first.

Even Stephanie didn't speak nor did she take her eyes off her father's still form. All she did in awknowledgement to the reminder was tighten her grip on the blanket with one hand and one of the chair's arm-rest with the other. Onion and Connie, who were standing on either side of the Gem-Human hybrid were the only ones' who noticed, but didn't say anything. Connie quickly glanced away, not knowing what to say or do to comfort the girl she came to see as the sister she never had. Onion, however, while remaining ever silent, simply reached out and placing his hand over the one Stephanie was using to grip the arm-rest in an attempt to comfort and she only seemed to relax slightly.

"Is that even possible?" Rhodonite asked in her ususal paranoid-worried voice, voice raising in a slight octave, "To physically take such a thing?"

"It shouldn't be," Connie finally said in responsive, "I mean, in our spiritual history, the soul is only suppose to leave the body upon death and Mr. Universe is perfectly healthy."

"And don't forget," Sour Cream added a heavy frown on his face, "Steph has to go to the creep's private island to participate in his tournament to get Mr. Universe's soul and the Crystal Gems back."

"But that begs the questions; how does a _Japanese_ game company CEO know about Gem-kind?" Lars added with a somewhat lighter, more thoughtful frown on his face, his adventures in space teaching him to think things through much more thoroughly, "How did he capture them with so little fight? And what possible purpose could he have have for them?" This made everyone, save Stephanie, narrow their expressions in thought for answers, even Jasper was in serious contemplation.

"Perhaps...it isn't...the Crystal _Gems_...that he...wants..." Fluorite suddenly spoke up and all eyes, save Stephanie's and Padparadscha's, were on her, while the large fusion's own eyes were focused on the glinting objects hanging from Stephanie's ears.

"Friends, I've just seen a perplexing vision!" Padparadscha suddenly exclaimed not half a minute after Fluorite's stoic suggestion, "Fluorite thinks it isn't the Crystal _Gems_ that our new enemy is after!" Lars quickly hide his grin with a fist, pretending to cough as Rhodonite and the Rutile-twins simply shook their heads with defeated 'what kind you do' type of shrugs, while Fluorite chuckled to herself.

"What else could it possibly be?" Buck asked but ended up answering his own question as he became furious as a thought crossed his mind, "Unless he's **_that_** type of creep, and if that's the case, so help me, I'll-!" The little hybrid had become something of a sister to him as well, so naturally, he had something of a protective streak as far as her safety was concerned.

But he was cut off suddenly by a loud, but firm, " _No!_ "

Everyone looked at Stephanie in surprise to see she was now on her feet, clearly trying not to burst out crying again. "The only one going any where _near_ Pegasus or that island is _me_ ," Stephanie stated in a firm voice that left little room for argument.

"But Steph-!" Connie tried to protest. " _No_ ," Stephanie repeated making the dark-skinned girl flinch instinctively, not use to that sort of voice from the normally peace-keeping girl, "This is _my_ mess, so _I'm_ going to fix it _myself!_ "

"But Stephanie we've been over this!" Connie argued, "You've tried to fix things yourself and look what happened!" As much as she didn't want to, she motioned to Lars and his new pink hue, making Stephanie cringe at the reminder of her not so well thought out plan, Lars remained surprising silent and empathetic to the reminder, eyes trained on his nails during this, "We've trained for this sort of thing, remember?"

"Yeah, for _Gem_ missions, Connie; Gem as in _Corrupted_ or invading _Homeworld_ Gems," Stephanie rebutted stressing the original concept behind her and Connie's training under the Crystal Gems, mostly under Pearl, "This is a _human_ threat with something we've never seen before!" She lowered her gaze to the floor, eyes filled with regret and fear as she muttered, "Please, don't make me lose you too..."

Connie stepped back in surprise, before lowering her own gaze, unsure what to say in response. No one did at first.

"But...Stephanie...you going alone is probably what this guy wants," Jenny tried to reason and Stephanie didn't respond. "And who knows what's waiting for you on that island," The Left Twin said. The Right Twin shortly added with apprehension, "All sorts of traps could be waiting."

"I know you all want to help, but this is _my_ problem," Stephanie shook her head and clenched her fists, unaware of how her gemstone pulsed with a deep pink light, "I should've been there to help Pearl, Garnet and Amethyst; I should've been paying more attention to the time limit," No one noticed Lars quirking a brow at her, his own hands clenched tight or his teeth grinting, "Now, Dad's been pulled into this and I gotta save 'em!" Then, as quick as it happened, the gemstone stopped glowing and Lars relaxed.

Lapis frowned, "That doesn't mean you have to face Pegasus by yourself or that you should, what if he pulls you into that dimension again?" This made Stephanie's posture fall a little as she touched one of her earrings, remembering what the letter said. She wondered what this possible protection the earrings would have and why it didn't come into effect during the duel.

"Hey, Peridot," Lars suddenly spoke up as he un-clenched his fists, "You can access the Internet, right?"

Everyone looked at the space pirate in confusion, but Peridot answered, "Yeah..."

Distractedly, Ronaldo muttered, "I've been meaning to ask about that..." Earning a jab to the side from his little brother.

"Can you look up the details of Pegasus' tournament?" Lars asked much to everyone's surprise.

"Lars!" Stephanie protested. "I can try," Peridot gave a small smile as she started to get an idea of what he had in mind as she formed a holo-screen. "Peridot, no!" Stephanie shouted.

"Steph, we can to help you," Peedee said pleadingly. "I don't want any of you to get anymore involved," Stephanie refused automatically, "Their _my_ family, _my_ problem."

"And _our_ friends," Connie argued as the gems just watched, save Peridot, who was typing away at her screen, "Of _course_ we're involved!"

"No, I mean-I just-!" Stephanie stammered for a moment for a proper response, before sinking back into her chair in frustration as her gem pulsed once more, this time, the light was a little darker in shade and Lars visibly tensed a little, choking sightly and the gems all lurched a bit. "You guys okay?" Kiki asked finally speaking up, looking at the twins in concerned, all the gems looked ready to fall over and Lars looked as if he was having a coughing fit, like he swallowed down the wrong pipe.

"Y-Yeah, just a weird...head-rush, I think you call it," Lapis said sounding a bit confused as she leaned on a wall, trying to shake the sudden heavy, negative feeling off, as were the other gems. "Strange, we seem to be experiencing an emotional aural projection of some sort," Padparadscha suddenly spoke up, sitting on her rear, unable to properly stand, holding her head as if having a headache, "But the only gem capable of this is-"

"Blue Diamond," Rhonodite cut in worriedly, "But she isn't here." No noticed the glow slowly dim once again in Stephanie's gemstone and slowly the Gems recovered.

Lars coughed a little more and Sadie looked up at him in concern, "You okay, Lars?"

"Yeah," Lars smiled reassuringly, "Just spit that went down the wrong pipe." Sadie arched a brow, but shrugged, accepting the answer.

"Okay, here's what I got," Peridot said pulling up some data, "This Pegasus guy is organizing the tournament to find a new World Champion after the previous one, Seto Kaiba, got beaten by a local in an unofficial duel, so he's sent invitations to all sorts of world duelists; National and Regional Champions, finalists, semi-finalists, Top Eights; not exactly a place for rookies."

"But that's not fair!" Sadie gasped. "Yeah, Stephanie literally just played her first duel last night!" Kiki added outraged making Stephanie herself flinch slightly at the reminder.

Buck wasn't all that happy either as he added, "Now she has to duel professional career-duelists?"

"I'll be fine," Stephanie insisted more half-heartedly, no longer having the energy to argue with any of them.

"I don't think there's much any of us can do anyways," Peridot spoke up, "According to this, the only way onto the island and into the tournament is by being in possession of a Dueling Glove with two star chips, a 'The King's Hand' card and a 'The King's Opposite Hand' card."

"I've never heard of those cards before," Buck said confused. "They were in the package with the tape," Stephanie replied shrugging.

"Then I guess we'll just have to sneak onto the island," Jenny said determinedly, punching a hand into the other's open palm.

"NO!" Stephanie yelled making even Jasper jump, "No one's sneaking onto that island," She instinctively stomped her foot out of frustration, frowning deeply, "You guys just don't get it!"

"No Steph, we don't get it," Jenny frowned back, "Why won't you let us help you?"

Stephanie started to yell, "Because it-!" But she stopped at a touch to her shoulder and looked back at Onion, who motioned to her father's prone form and she calmed, only to sob again as she dropped her head into her hands, feeling backed into a corner. The sight made everyone sad.

"I think I know a solution that might make everyone happy," Peridot suddenly said as she scrolled through her holo-screen, getting everyone's attention, "According to this, some people on the publicly available guest list are from wealthy families and are granted special conditions if they are, for example, considerably frail or have physical limitations."

Stephanie just looked at her confused, wondering how that was helpful. Lapis, however, seemed to get an idea where Peridot was going with this and said, "So, if we can pass Stephanie off as one of these...'wealthy, frail humans'...someone could demand someone go with her."

Stephanie's eyes widened in shock and Peridot grinned, "Exactly, and it wouldn't be odd because it's happened before; sore losers and the like, we could even get away with two or three bodyguards since its such a big tournament." The other teens and gems shared in her grin, liking the idea.

"B-B-But-!" Stephanie tried to protest, afraid of what Pegasus could go. "Stephanie, its either this or we **_all_** go!" Lars stated in a firm, slightly harsh, authoritative voice that had all of the present Gems standing straight at attention out of reflex, having heard that type of voice only once before. All the other teens looked at him in shock, truly seeing just how much his space adventures had changed him.

Stephanie, in response to his words, just sighed in defeat, and instead asked, "But how are we suppose to pass me off as a rich kid?"

"Well, a new outfit or two will certainly be a step in the right direction," Jenny stated with a grin, making Sour Cream, Lars and Buck quietly groan, "Trust me, nothing says money like the Miami Beach fashion scene."

"And you've never heard me argue protocols," Peridot added hand on her chest in pride as she dismissed her holo-screen, "Plus, with Lapis' ice-glare and the muscle on Jasper and Bismuth, there's _no_ way they can refuse us!"

"Whoa, whoa, wait, when did we say _we'd_ help?" Jasper asked suddenly, before glancing at Bismuth and gained a dry expression, "Let me rephrase that...I didn't sign up for Ruby-Duty, I **_might_ **have changed my mind about Rose-"

Instantly, everyone who was conscious, corrected her as one, "Stephanie!"

Jasper just rolled her eyes, "Whatever," Then continued as if they hadn't interrupted, "But that doesn't mean I'm looking to get demoted here!"

"C'mon Jasper, it's fool proof!" Peridot argued but paused and glanced at the ever unpredictable and emotional hybrid, then added simply, "Correction: it's Ruby-Proof."

"Um, just a question or two," Bismuth finally spoke up, "How are we going to sneak on without being noticed? I mean," She gestured down at herself, "In a crowd of humans, we're _going_ to stand out, plus, how are we even going to get there?"

"Leave that first one to me," Peridot stated, "As for getting there, a boat will be docking at Domino City, Japan to pick up the contestants at four p.m. and will be leaving for the island at six."

"I can get us a ride there on my dad's private jet," Kevin surprisingly volunteered, "He always let's me fly it on weekends if I ask, plus I can call ahead to rent a limo to drive you there."

Lars blinked at the other teen, completely taken a-back from the offer, but didn't say anything. "And I can drive you guys to the boat," Sour Cream added, "Nothing says money like a chauffeur."

"If we get going now, we can make it for five," Jenny said after looking at her phone.

This said, everyone filed out of the room, planning, whilst Fluorite simply began to inch back around the building to meet them at the entrance. But Stephanie paused at the door and looked back at her dad. For just once, she wished he would stop being dragged into her messes and this time, he was paying a hefty price for her mistakes.

 _'I promise, dad,'_ Stephanie vowed silently, _'Pegasus isn't getting away with any of this.'_

00000000000000000000000000000000

It was only after she got home to finally change out of her bathing suit into her usual shirt and shorts, did she find out why Lars' only complaint about Jenny was her addiction to shopping. The older Pizza sister took one look at Stephanie's closet and nearly had a heart-attack. She then began to drag the poor hybrid as well as Connie to several different stores, having Stephanie try on various different outfits, but nothing seemed to appeal Jenny.

At least, not until they got to a new store called 'Mimi's Boutique of Miami Beauty' and Stephanie could honestly say she had never seen so much pink in one place before, save _maybe_ her mother's room, and it _all_ looked expensive; from the mini-chandeliers on the ceiling to the fuzzy rugs on the floor. Jenny was instantly pleased and Stephanie could only pray that they got to the jet so they could get to the docks on time.

Meanwhile, after assigning the Off-Colors as a improvised security-detail, with Sadie, Kiki and the Fryman brothers' assistance, to Greg, just to be safe. Jamie, Jasper, Lapis, Lars, Bismuth, Sour Cream and Kevin were all gathered in the lobby of Kevin's father's private jet. Lapis, Sour Cream, Jamie and Bismuth were lounging in the soft, plush seats, and, Lars and Jasper were leaning on opposite walls, all of them watched as Kevin paced the stretch of aisle between the rows of seats, talking to someone over his phone.

"That's right, Domino Airport, I know you have a brand in the city, we already have a driver on stand-by to drive the limo the docks," Kevin said for probably the third time, before pausing for a few seconds and then resume talking with a furious expression and a harsh tone in his voice, "No, you're to be there for three-thirty and not a second later, or Miss Diamonde won't make the boat on time, and trust me, if that happens, you can kiss your job goodbye!" With that said, he hung up.

"Diamonde?" Lars asked quirking a brow, an unreadable expression on his face. "It was Jamie's idea," Kevin stated without hesitation, pointing to said brunette. When Lars fixed the mailman with a questioning look, the slightly older boy shrugged, "It sounded important in my head and I remember what the gems said about the Diamonds and their history with Steph's mom, I figured it'd be rather fitting in an ironic way."

Lars seemed to think about it before shrugging, unable to completely disagree. The three Gems looked a bit disgruntled with the idea, but none of them said anything.

"Hey, guys, you won't believe the break-through I've made!" Peridot crowed as she ran up the steps into the plane, holding several metal bracelets made of iron with different colored diamond-shaped stones on each, wearing one herself, "I can barely believe it myself!"

"Well, are you going to tell us while we're still Era Twos?" Jasper asked sarcastically with an eye-roll, "Or are you going to wait for it to be Era Four?"

Instead of getting mad like everyone expected, Peridot just grinned before lighting up with a yellowish-green light of her shape-shifting process. But her bracelet remained unfazed by the change and the little stones began to glow a soft orangey-pink color, that slowly merged with Peridot's shape-shifting, making even Jasper shield her eyes from the sudden increased intensity.

When the light finally died down, they looked at her and what they saw made them jaw-drop from shock. Gone was her cold, rock-like, lime-green skin and in its place...Peridot had normal human skin; soft, peachy-pink, if a bit on the pale side and her hair fell like normal human hair, cropping a little beneath her ears in a pixie-cut, the fringe that was her bangs hid her gemstone, but when the sun shone at just the right angle you could see it shine. A part from still wearing her Yellow Court Uniform, which miraculously still clung to her properly, she looked perfectly human.

"P-P-Peridot...?" Lapis stammered in shock. "Yep!" Peridot grinned taking off her new pale-green tinted-sunglasses, revealing cheery, pale silver eyes, "Isn't it great?"

"Y-Y-Y-You're human!" Buck breathed out, also shocked. "I know; I've been working on these things for weeks!" Peridot enthused completely missing his shock as she handed the other three Gems their bracelets, "It took _so_ much trail and error, but the results were _so_ worth the wait; now we can go _anywhere_ and _no one_ will be the wiser!"

"How...?" Bismuth breathed. "It was surprisingly simple, these little stones," Peridot explained holding up the wrist with the bracelet on it, lightly tapping the diamond-shaped stones, "Contain samples of human DNA, there's also little injectors that activate when the wearer shape shifts, releasing the DNA into the light-stream of our physical forms, the process creates an almost perfect human form!"

"Almost perfect?" Lapis asked as she slides hers on, looking at it quizzically.

"We look perfectly human save for our gemstones, obviously," Peridot said, "On the outside, anyways, on the inside, we're still Gems, we still don't 'need' sleep or to ear or drink, they'll just become more appealing."

"Wait," Lars said upon realizing something, "Human DNA? Where did you get so much DNA if you had to go through so many trail and errors?" Sour Cream, Kevin and Jamie also looked interested to know this, if looking a little more uncomfortable and freaked out at the thought.

"I got it from the Blood Bank at the city hospital," Peridot shrugged. "YOU WERE STEALING FROM THE HOSPITAL?" Jamie freaked out jumping out of his seat in shock.

Peridot, not seeing the moral problem, shrugged, confused, "What?"

"Peridot, there's a reason humans have the Blood Bank," Lars explained patiently as Kevin and Sour Cream tried to calm a near hyperventilating Jamie down, "Humans don't go poof, remember? We're not made out of light, we need blood to survive, if we lose to much, we die-shatter-whatever," He shook his head from the momentary culture crossing of words as all four Gems cringe at his rather blunt explanation, but he wasn't done, "The Blood Bank is to help people so they don't die from blood loss, its most for when someone suffers a major injury."

"But I didn't take that much, I was only making seven for the Crystal Gems, Lapis and me," Peridot said nervously, mostly to quell her own guilt. "Doesn't make the situation any less morally upsetting, did you talk to any of the doctors?" Lars asked, unfortunately, Peridot shook her head.

Fortunately, Jenny chose that moment to get on the plane and more or less skip down to a seat, "Hey, guys!" Connie more or less trudged behind her, Stephanie behind the other girl, in her usual clothes.

"About time," Sour Cream joked in attempt to lighten the mood as Bismuth and Jasper poked at their new bracelets curiously. "Yeah, we were starting to think you were buying Steph a whole new wardrobe!" Buck added making Stephanie smile sheepishly as she headed for the bathroom.

Connie just groaned as she flopped into the seat next to Lapis. Jenny just giggled innocently as the Gems shared a confused look.

 _(Domino Pier, 5:30)_

A long line of duelists stood about the large boat that was the Industrial Illusions' cruise liner, in the process of actually getting on the ship or seeing their friends off. One by one they had to present their Duelist Glove or/and their Star Chips before being allowed in by the security.

Among the crowd were two particular duelists. Two teenage boys.

One was rather short for his age, just a bit taller than Stephanie by at least an inch or inch and a half, if you didn't count his gravity-defying, star-shaped hair, which was black, the tips of which were a dark purple and his bangs were a golden blonde, framing his round face, making his amethyst-purple eyes pop out. He was pale and thin, wearing the boy's uniform of one of the city's high-schools; which consisted of a blue blazer and matching pants with a black tank and black/white sneakers. The only thing off about his otherwise casual appearance was the golden, upside-down, pyramid pendant that hung from a chain around his neck, the lines running through it suggested it had been broken at one point and it had the Eye of Horus on its front.

The other was a rather average looking 16-year-old boy; tall and tanned with messy, straw-blonde hair that brushed his ears and honey-brown eyes. He wore a white tank under a long green jacket, worn jeans with a pair of brown shoes. Unlike everyone else, he didn't wear a Duelist Glove and had bunch of dog-tags hanging from a silver chain around his neck.

They were Yugi Moto and Joseph 'Joey' Wheeler.

Yugi was taking a good look around at all the other duelists and couldn't help but slowly feel more and more intimidated by all the more experienced duelists. He had too much at stake to risk being kicked out of the tournament, his grandfather's soul being one thing.

Joey also had similar concerns, if only a little different, only he didn't dare let it show for fear of being labelled an easy target. Like Yugi he too had a lot at stake in this competition, only his goal was the prize money. It was the only way he could pay for a special operation to save his sister's eyesight.

However, getting into the finals was going to be hard, considering he hadn't been invited like Yugi had been. So the shorter teen had willingly given up one of his Star Chips so Joey could get on. Now they were in line to be cleared of any weapons so they could get on the boat without any trouble.

"Sure are a lot of duelists participating in Pegasus' tournament," Yugi commented out loud. "Yeah and we gotta beat 'em all if we want to win and get yer grandpa's soul back," Joey agreed clenching his hand around the Star Chip Yugi had given him.

The roar of an engine caused everyone to look over in surprised-amazement as a gorgeous limousine of a surprising shade of reddish-pink pulled up. The sun made the metal shine like a gem from how well cared for it was and the windows were tinted keeping anyone from seeing who was inside.

"Great, as if moneybags wasn't bad enough, we get anothah rich brat," Joey muttered mostly to himself distastefully, despite his initial interest and curiosity in who the vehicle could belong to, "Who da ya think it could be Yug?"

"I don't know Joey," Yugi replied honestly, watching as it came to a stop, unable to hide his own curiosity, especially when he felt the puzzle gently buzz against his chest where it rested from the odd, yet pleasant energy he could feel coming from whoever was in the fancy vehicle, ""But they must have talent if they been invited."

The front passenger door opened and the person who stepped out was a young man, roughly just a year or so older than Joey and Yugi. He had a rather soft-looking face despite the sunglasses hiding his eyes, his hair being a dark brown in color. He wore a white button-up under a black vest, matching dress pants and shoes, and a light bluish-purple tie.

From his spot and angle, Yugi could catch a glimpse of the driver before the man closed the door. He was the same age as them with pale skin and platinum-blonde hair that was styled up into a point and also wore sunglasses. He was dressed similarly to the other man, the difference being his button up was a grayish-blue and his tie a bold, deep purple.

The brunette lightly jogged over to the rear passenger door, his posture straight and prim as he opened the door, allowing two hulking figures stepped out first. Yugi and Joey's eyes went wide and Joey grit his teeth, intimated by the two, and if they carefully looked around, they were the only ones.

The taller of the two stood tall and proud, easily around eight and a half feet tall with the imposing muscular build of a wrestler or body-builder with the posture and expression of a military warrior. She had olive-tanned skin decorated with orangey-red tattoos that resembled tiger stripes, which were shown off on her arms by her dark orange tank. She wore maroon-colored jogging pants tucked into a pair of dark brown hiking boots, a silver bracelet on one wrist. But the most eye-catching aspect of her outfit was the beige-brown-colored, triangular and fancy-looking mask that covered most of her face and yet at the same time, left her eyes and mouth exposed. Her long, wild mane of beige-white hair cascaded down her back, adding a certain ferociousness to her already wild appearance and her striking amber-yellow eyes were emotionally schooled, making it hard to read her, which just made her even more scary.

The other woman, however, was notably shorter by a full head, only coming to her friend's shoulders in height, putting her at roughly seven-seven and a half ft tall with a less stiffer posture to her rounder features, but was still muscular, just in a more lean way, suggesting she was more of a heavy lifter than a hitter. She was African-American with the most unique hair Yugi had ever seen; it was every color of the literal rainbow and was styled in dreadlocks, which were held back from falling into her face with a lilac colored headband, and her eyes were onyx-black. Oddly, she only had one tattoo in the shape of a black star on her left shoulder. She wore a black tub-top with red caprice and darker sandals. She took wore a silver bracelet.

Leaning over to whisper to his friend, Joey asked nervously, "Ya don't think _they're_ duelists, do ya?"

"I...I don't think so," Yugi admitted hesitantly, "I mean, they don't seem to have Duelist Gloves." Joey sighed a little in relief at that.

The two women then stood aside as a third female emerged from the limo. She was noticeably shorter than the rainbow-haired woman, coming to a bit beneath her shoulders, making her significantly dwarfed by the white-haired woman, thus making her look much less intimidating in appearance, especially since she didn't seem to have any muscle on her, being rather thin and lean, but carried herself as someone important regardless. She looked to be their age with pale chartreuse yellow hair styled in a cropped pixie-style with frayed bangs covered her forehead, a pair of light green-tinted sunglasses over her eyes. She was dressed smartly in a grass green blouse under a darker vest with a yellow necktie, black slacks and green wedge heels. To top it off was another silver bracelet.

Joey could only blink at the sight of her, "Think that's the duelist?" Though he doubted it, she looked more like a secretary or lawyer with an attitude.

Yugi had a similar opinion as he shrugged, "I don't know, maybe."

But those thoughts were dashed as another teenage-looking girl stepped out, posture regal and she moved with an otherworldly grace. She was taller than the younger looking girl, coming to the rainbow-haired woman's shoulders in height, and didn't have much muscle on her either, being lean and slim, and she was pale. The only thing sharp about her features were her eyes, which were a deep ocean blue, matching her short hair that brushed her collarbone in the front and was shorter in the back, a fringe in her bangs, which were moved out of her eyes with a silver crescent moon hair-clip. She wore a simple, sky-blue sundress that fell past her knees to her mid-shins with darker blue stars decorating the hem and the neckline was modest, the sleeves being off shoulder and her shoes were a simple pair of navy-blue ballet flats that had ribbons lacing up her legs, disappearing under the dress. And sure enough, she also had a silver bracelet.

Joey's eyes widened in surprised-awe at the sight of her, cheeks turning a dark red as he unintentionally stared, "She's...she's...b-be-beautiful..."

Yugi chuckled a little at his friend, but it soon died in throat as the fifth and final figure stepped out and it was his face's turn to flush red.

The girl was roughly Yugi's height, maybe an inch shorter with such a light tan to her skin it was barely noticeable and she had the figure of a goddess, with all the right curves in all the right places. She wore a pearl-pink tank-top underneath a sakura-petal pink shirt that had one sleeve that fell off the shoulder and it was designed with hallowed flower patterns in random places, and she wore a pair of magenta pink shorts that frayed at the ends, and her sandals were fuscia with hot pink ribbons for the straps. Her accessories consisted of a light pink beaded bracelet in place of a silver one and a wide-brimmed taffy-pink sunhat with a watermelon-pink band and strawberry-pink flower decorations sewn to it and a pair of bubblegum-pink sunglasses sat on her face with darker pink-tinted lenses.

It was obvious what her favorite color was and normally it would've been off-putting, but strangely, Yugi found it all looked amazing on her.

But what drew Yugi's eyes were the fact that despite the hat, he could catch a strand of black peeking in her otherwise pale cotton-candy pink hair and hanging from her earrings which were golden and shaped into Ankht crosses with the same eye symbol as his puzzle. She also wore a Duelist Glove.

The longer Yugi stared at her the hotter and redder his face got, once he managed to find his voice, it could only come out in a near whisper, "She's...she's...p-perfect..."

This successfully snapped Joey out of it to look down at his friend in surprise, arching a brow skeptically at Yugi's choice of wording. Even before they had become friends, Joey, and most of their homeroom class, knew that the most Yugi had ever looked at a girl was at their field trip at the beach, which sorta didn't count now that he thought back on it. Kinda hard not to look. And that had been back when Yugi had been working through his crush on Tea. So, needless to say, seeing the way his friend look at a girl as if she were Aphrodite herself was a nice change. Surprising, yes, but not entirely unwelcomed. Even if the girl in question was a little bit too into a color.

The blue-haired angel took a salmon-pink suitcase from the brunette man, who had retrieved it from the limo's trunk. She and the greenette girl then walked ahead of the pink-girl, while the two Amazon women flanked the girl from behind. The man simply got back into the limo, which then drove off.

But before the group of women could board, they were intercepted by a security guard, making both women tense. "Eh! You can't _all_ be duelists!" He said rudely ignoring how all five of them had deck holsters strapped on, pointing at the pink-clad girl's glove, "No glove, no Star Chips; you don't get on board!"

"We're aware, but if you'd be quiet we can explain," The greenette stated calmly with a smirk as if she were talking to a four-year-old, a slight condescending tone in her slightly high-pitched voice, "Assuming a muscle-head, no-brained _clod_ like you can follow along."

The man looked flustered and both Domino High School students snickered, somehow she made the rather odd insult more funny than it should be, and the other women's lips all quirked. The blue-haired girl leaned down to retrieve a folder from the suitcase and handed it to the greenette with a calm smirk on her face.

"I am Akira Oshiro," She continued tone unchanging, "The academic adviser and the legal aid of Gem Records," She held up a newspaper article of said company, "The CEO's only child, Pinkamena Roza, that's with a 'z', not an 's', Diamonde," Yugi didn't miss how either Amazon women's eyes twitched, while the girl fiddled with her sunglasses uncomfortably, "Was invited to your boss, Mr. Maximillion Pegasus' Duel Monster Tournament."

The man went to take the article to examine it, but Akira put it back in the folder. "Duel Monsters, meaning _duelists_ only," The man stressed, "Meaning _she_ ," He pointed at Pinkamena, who jumped, causing both of the tallest females to tense, "Goes _alone!_ "

"Normally that would be the case, but _we_ aren't the clods, here," Akira stated smirking still, procuring another slip of paper, a hospital form, as the man fumed, "As according to the International Duelist Pros' Safety Clause, if the duelist in question is in any way internally sick from a pre-existing sickness or disease that leaves them frail in any shape or form, however temporary, then that duelist is entitled to bodily protection, either through Industrial Illusions' offices or other means."

Both Joey and Yugi's jaws were touching the ground from surprise before they shared a look. "She's good," Yugi commented. "Wait, people can actually do that?" Joey asked in surprise.

"And according to the files and analysis of her family doctor, Dr. Priyanka Maheswaran of Beach City Memorial Hospital," Akira continued not given the guard a chance to get a word in edge wise, "That Miss Diamonde," Again, the 'bodyguards' eyes twitched, "Suffers from random periods of fagitude and has low bone deficiency, and if you fail to understand what that means, it means she gets tired a lot and bruises very easily."

Yugi blinked at this and looked at Pinkamena worriedly. It made him wonder why a girl with those sort of health problems would enter a tournament like this were anything could happen and it made him worry for violent sore losers. Part of him hoped they would met up at some point.

"Henceforth," Akira wrapped up, once again putting the paper back when the guard reached for it, "She has every right to bring Hau," She motioned to the woman with rainbow-colored hair, "And Yamazaki," She then motioned to the tattooed women, "With her."

Joey gave a low whistle, impressed, before smirking playfully, "I like her." Making Yugi chortle in amusement, hiding it and his grin by pretending to cough.

The security guard stammered, face reddening to the point you'd think steam would start coming out of his ears, before glaring at the still smirking woman, "Doesn't mean the two of you are included in that!" But he and many others all cringed as the blue-haired girl's eyes changed from a calm, confident ocean to a raging, destructive sea.

"Allow me to introduce myself," She said in a controlled, yet cool tone of voice, her eyes set in a glare, but otherwise expressed no emotion, "My name is Liliya Mizushima, Miss Diamonde's," Again, Hou and Yamazaki's eyes twitched, "Private Nurse, I'm sure you're bosses would just love the publicity of a girl possibly dying because you denied her the only person who can administer her medication safely."

The security guard looked as if he swallowed a lemon, peel and all, at the idea. Not only would be permanently out of a job, but his pension wouldn't even dent the lawsuit that would set upon him alone. Not to mention, he got the idea he would be hunted down if anything like that happened.

Joey, unlike everyone else, shivered under the girl's gaze. He had never seen any one else so intimidating, not even Kaibe cut close to the raw emotion in her eyes. Nor has he ever seen a girl manage to remain so beautiful while angry. It was intoxicating for him, to say the least.

A dreamy smile spread across his face as he gazed at her, murmuring, "...Liliya..." Yugi rolled his eyes good-naturedly at this with a smile.

"And as her teacher," Akira piped up grabbing the two teen's attention, "I have every right to continue her education."

The security guard opened his mouth, but was cut off by Hou, who pounded on fist into the open palm of her other had as he said, "There's not going to be any problems..." She purposely trailed off as she squared her shoulders, smiling darkly at him.

Many flinched as the mouth of an Amazon that was Yamazaki cracked her knuckles with a purely savage and blood-thirsty look on her face as she finished with a smile of her own, "Is there?"

The security guard seemed to turn many different shades of white all at once before rapidly shaking his head and silently getting out of their way. This made Akira smirk and Liliya reverted back to her calm smirk-like smile as they led the group aboard, the other duelists all quickly getting out of their way.

But as they began to pass by, Pinkamena happened to glance their way and she suddenly paused with a surprised expression, sunglasses sliding down, allowing dark amber-brown eyes to lock with amethyst purple. Yugi's eyes widened as he stared back into them, his cheeks flaring quickly once again. It was as if, for that moment, time slowed to a stop and everything around them disappeared. He could see a bright spirit inside them, full of life and energy.

Joey noticed this and finally took his eyes off Liliya to poke his friend's shoulder with a playful, yet knowing smirk, making Yugi blush even harder, not breaking contact. Liliya and the others stopped as they noticed as well, "St-Pinkamena?"

Pinkamena stiffened in embarrassment, face flaring with a dark blush and nodded quickly as she moved on. It was her nod that caused Yugi to realize that he had a closer look at her earrings and his eyes widened at the similarities they shared with his puzzle.

Why did he suddenly get the feeling this were about to get a whole lot more interesting of a sudden?

* * *

 **Oh Yugi, if only you knew. Lol!**

 **Anyways, that the second chapter, we get to see the Off-Colors, and I got to admit Padparascha's my favorite, she's just so cute! Let me know who's yours in your reviews.**

 **Just to recap, I have absolutely no clue if tournaments allow something like, the whole thing with the Safety Clause. I made the whole thing up. I couldn't figure out how else Peridot, Lapis, Bismuth and Jasper would get on the boat with little resistance.**

 **Also, as for their ability to take human form, I had Peridot explain it, whether or not its logically and biologically sound I have no clue. I'm kinda winging it as far as Gem biology goes as they're more or less magical in nature, so who knows, anything's just about possible with them really. Let me know what you think.**

 **Plus, when they're in their in their human forms, I'm going to be referring to them by their human disguises. Jasper is Jazmin Yamazaki, Bismuth is Itzel Hou, Lapis is Liliya Mizshima and Peridot is Akira Oshiro. All Asian names, if you want to know what they mean, I suggest looking them up as I don't remember exactly at this point, just that I tried to make it as fitting as possible.**

 **Now, suntan140, I'm really glad you like this story so much, haven't heard much from you in a while. As for you're question about Pink Diamond being the spirit in the earrings, well, she does have a part to play in the long run, but I'm not going to go into in detail at the moment if anything to avoid spoilers. As for the connection to Yami/Atem, well, I can imagine that as Rose, Pink must've traveled all over the word at some point and had seen all sorts of human cities and kingdoms rise and all, I fail to see how Atem's own reign, however brief, being any different. After all, like I brought up before, the Gem War ended roughly around the time Atem was born and crowned, so it isn't too far a stretch to say that after the war they _could_ have at least crossed paths, for defiant details, you're gonna have to wait an another arch or two.**

 **Anyways, let me know what you guys all think and especially tell me what you think of a Stephanie X Yugi pairing (have no idea what to call the ship, open to ideas) much less a Stephanie X Yami/Atem or Yami!Stephanie X Yami/Atem pairing (again no idea what to call either one).**

 **So please review and let me know what you think, also sorry if this seems a little sort and anti-climatic, gets better in the next chapter, trust me.**

 **Till next time!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own YuGiOh nor their original characters nor do I own Steven Universe and any of its original characters, cause if I did, Rose would've found a way to be able to exist at the same time with Steven! But a girl can dream.**

 **I gotta say this one's been an interesting piece of work and I can't wait to see what you guys think of this new chapter.**

* * *

Within one of the halls of the upper deck, Stephanie released the breathe she never realized she had been holding ever since the jet had landed in Domino's Air-Stripe. Never had she been in a more nerve wrecking position, save the whole trail fiasco, cause, really that guard had _nothing_ on the Diamonds, but she could have sworn she could hear her own heart pounding in her ears as she waited for the technician's ruse to work, so sure someone was waiting to pounce at any moment to capture the remaining Gems by her side. It had taken her by surprise how well the plan had worked.

Liliya Mizushima, Lapis new human name, had taken a room key from the woman who was handing them out to the duelists for when night fell as it would take the rest of the day and a bit of the following morning before they would reach the island, but Akira Oshiro, Peridot's human identity, negotiated a bigger room for them all to fit comfortably. The four Gems-turned-humans remained around her in a, ironically, diamond-shaped formation around her with Akira leading the way, maintaining the illusion that she was big important heiress.

She let out yet another, more shuddering sigh as they walked the hall, she didn't miss how Akira and Itzel Hou, Bismuth's new identy as a human, allowed their eyes to take in the ship's structure, while Liliya and Jazmin Yamazaki, Jasper's new name, looked distinctly board. But Stephanie didn't miss how the two's eyes would glance around every one in a while, watching for threats.

She gently touched one of her new earrings as she took in the few duelists that were also wondering the halls, all wearing the same glove as her. Their ages varied from as young as twelve or thirteen to as old as a college student, a few looked to be a bit older. Many of them didn't look much like she'd imagine a professional duelist to look like, but she learned the lesson of 'looks can be deceiving' the hard way and had no desire for a repeat.

"You okay, kid?" Itzel asked quietly from her left.

"Y-Y-Yeah," Stephanie gulped, "It's just...I really have to beat _everyone_ here?" She tried to make sound a little bit like a whine, mostly to hide her worry, but she wasn't sure how convincing it was.

"I wouldn't worry about it," Akira assured with her usual confidence and smirk-like smile, "With _that_ deck, there's no way you can lose!"

"For now, let's find the room," Liliya smiled calmly from Stephanie's right, "So we can drop off your suitcase before finding the food area."

As they resumed walking, Stephanie couldn't help but giggle as Jazmin muttered about the pointlessness of eating and how degrading it was to reduce herself to 'organic' standards. However, as they approached the next corner, a female voice came from around it, "Are you two really that naive? Causing them all to share a glance of confusion.

When they walked out to see what was going on, Stephanie blushed to see who the woman was talking to. It was the boy with the tri-colored, star-shaped hair she had stopped to stare at, and the blonde boy he was with, who had been staring at Liliya as if she were an angel. She couldn't help flushing harder as she took in his uniquely cute features.

She shook it off and studied the room who had a hand on her hip in a stern manner that kinda reminded her of Jenny or Vidalia, and the hybrid was immediately self-consciously intimidating. While the woman wasn't big in stature like her mother had been, she was just as well-developed with soft-looking peachy skin, long, wavy, sunny-blonde hair and sharp violet eyes. She wore a white top under a purple jacket, a matching skirt and boots, and white finger-less gloves. She couldn't have been older than twenty or twenty one.

To Stephanie, she was the embodiment of female human beauty in clear perfection...at least, compared to herself anyways, she was. After all, she probably didn't have a gemstone where her belly-button should be, sticking out like a deformed belly-piercing.

However, to her 'entourage', as Akira had joked, this was just another organic female...

"This tournament isn't for newbies like you," The blonde female continued snarkily and rude, "You two should just go home, before I humilate the both of you!"

...who was already getting on their nerves.

 _'That isn't fair,'_ Stephanie thought to herself, fists tightening, but she didn't look half as mad as the Gems did, _'She hasn't even seen them duel yet.'_

The woman turned around and noticed them, and narrowed her eyes at them, quipping, "What are you looking at?"

"An overly pampered, spoiled city girl with no regards to other's feelings," Liliya deadpanned making the woman scowl, which made Stephanie wince. "Pot calling the kettle black a bit, don'tcha ya think?" The woman commented eyes more focused on 'Pinkamena' as she took in her clean-cut, designer-outfit. Stephanie bit the inside of her cheek nervously, not trusting her voice at the moment, as she pulled down on the front of her hat's brim in an attempt to hide her face.

"Its those girls from the docks..." Joey said softly, eyes practically glued to Liliya. Likewise, Yugi was paying Stephanie more attention than the others and, at a closer and more clearer light, he was more captivated than before.

As for the spirit of the puzzle, he found the entire group curious as well, being able to both sense and see the strange energy that seem to literally roll of each of them in waves, finding it strangely familiar. While the four older women's were more potent, it was Pinkamena's that was, in itself, more powerful. Jazmin's aura was a bold orange and seemed to be focused on her face where her nose should be, but he could see the faint outline of a triangular object in its place. Itzel's was a sharp grayish-blue and was focused in the center of her chest in a squarish shape. Liliya's was a calming shade of deep blue, coming from her back and Akira's was an eye-catching light green and seemed to be coming from the center of her forehead. Pinkamena's, however, was a bright, happy, dazzling pink and was coming from her navel and it felt the most familiar. It made him make a mental note to keep an eye on them.

Akira frowned, "Just who do you think you are, the Queen of Sheba?" Yugi snorted while Joey out-right laughed as the woman visibly bristled.

"Me? Name's Mai Valentine," The woman introduced with a flick of her hair, stance confident and strong, "And I'm going to win this tournament."

Liliya rolled her eyes, "Oh, so in addition to being annoying, you can see the future as well." She reframed from calling her a Sapphire, remembering that while the people of Beach City may have been somewhat knowledged about Gems, the rest of humanity wasn't.

Mai gaped like a fish for a moment before rising her hand as she started to retort, only to stop short as Jazmin and Itzel stepped between her and the three shorter females. Mai instinctively flinched as two pairs of muscled arms were crossed and she was stared down at warningly. It was Itzel who spoke in an eerily calm voice, "Walk. Away."

Mai huffed but complied, leaving without another word. Stephanie gave another sigh, tempted to see if the boys were okay, but allowed Akira to pull her along as they set off again to find their rooms. But she couldn't help looking back over her shoulder at the two to see Yugi and Joey staring after them something she couldn't quite place in their eyes.

When they finally found the right room and locked the door, Liliya, Jazmin, Akira and Itzel reserved the advanced shape-shift and reverted back to their original selves. As they did Lapis adopted a rather dry look on her face, which matched her tone as she stretched her wings, "Well, that could have gone better." It didn't take a genius to know what she meant.

Jasper looked disgusted, Mai still in the forefront of her mind, as she questioned, "Are all organics like that?"

"Only the ones who let their egos get the better of them," Peridot replied as she stretched her arms and Stephanie sat on her new, temporary bed Indian-style while taking off her hat and sunglasses. "I hope we don't cross paths with her again," Bismuth grimaced, "She reminds me too much of those elite upper crusts." Surprisingly, Jasper nodded in agreement.

"You okay Steph?" Lapis asked drawing attention to the half-Gem's quiet behavior. "You've been really quiet since we landed," Peridot added in concern not liking this change in the girl.

"Just nervous I guess," Stephanie shrugged. "You've faced how many corrupted gems plus Malachite and Jasper herself," Peridot listed oblivious to Jasper and Lapis' sour expressions at the mention of the fusion, "And this card game makes you nervous?"

"I've been training with the Crystal Gems for when I'd eventually join them for missions for a little over half my life and have _been_ fighting for the last year and a half," Stephanie stated simply as she stopped playing with an earring, which was starting to become a habit, "I've never even held a Duel Monster card before and we all know how my first duel turned out."

They all fell silent at the reminder, conceding her point.

"Also..." Stephanie began hesitantly, "That...that boy..."

"Which one?" Peridot asked smirking immediately returning full-force with a teasing air, "The shortie with the star-shaped hair or the tall one that was staring at Lapis as if she were a Diamond herself?" As Bismuth snickered and Jasper rolled her eyes, no one noticed Lapis blink in surprise before her face started to imitate a plum.

"What's wrong with being short?" Stephanie asked in reflex to the boy's defense, then said, "His puzzle...it's...a lot like my earrings."

"What makes you say that?" Bismuth asked, "Because their both made out of gold?"

"That and they both have the Eye of Horus," Stephanie answered before turning her head to show them an earring, tapping her nail against the symbol, "They're considered a symbol of protection for the ancient pharaohs..." At their confused looks, she added, "One of the various human equivalents of Diamonds." All four then nodded in understanding.

"So, they could've belonged to an organic Diamond," Jasper clarified face pinching at the thought, "And somehow they were given to you and the pipsqueak?" Stephanie shrugged in response, not having a good enough answer.

After that, Lapis and Jasper retook their human disguises and left to get Stephanie some food and snacks for themselves. Even though on the inside they were still very much Gem and thus technically didn't need food as much, Peridot explained that through her trail and errors, found that to maintain their human forms, they would need to maintain its human needs, such as eating. While they were gone, Stephanie fiddled with her phone and sent her friends texts to let them know they were on the boat and were safe, while Peridot decided to teach Bismuth checkers.

When they got back and after she ate, Stephanie tried to amuse herself by playing games on her phone and score-keeping the four Gems' rotating checker games and, unsurprisingly, Peridot was in the lead with, surprisingly, Jasper in a close second. All of them paranoid of what Pegasus might pull if they weren't careful.

But after Peridot's thirty-eighth win and the constant clinking of the pieces, Stephanie couldn't take it anymore. Hopping off the end, the black and pink-haired girl said, "I'm going to step out for a minute for some air."

"We'll go with you," Lapis said immediately as she and Bismuth paused in their game. "No, no, I'll be fine," Stephanie was quick to decline, shaking her head, "I'm just going to the deck."

Sensing her friend really did need her space right now, Peridot decided to intervene before Lapis could make things worse. "At least take Jasper with you," Peridot compromised, "Do you really think Pegasus' wimpy organic Rubies are gonna mess with you with **_her_** around?" Jasper smirked a little at the unintentional ego boost, but otherwise remained nonchalant.

Stephanie thought on it and had to concede her point and sighed, "Fine." Jasper got up and silently shifted back into Jazmin. The three remaining Gems watched apprehensively as they left.

Turning back to the game, Lapis moved a piece as she said casually, "So, spent the last couple of millennium in a bubble, huh?" The bluntness made Peridot cringe.

But instead of getting defensive or upset, Bismuth moved her own piece, replying plainly, "Yeah, till Stephanie freed me, you?"

"Trapped in a mirror with a cracked gemstone," Lapis replied, "Until Steph saved me."

Both Gems hummed in a mutual understanding as an awkward Peridot sat there, watching them play.

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On deck, many of the contestants were chatting and eating as they enjoyed the cool night air, including Yugi and Joey. Many were either practicing for the tournament or trading cards. Generally, it was a naturally noisy moment amidst participants in an upcoming big tournament.

So when things began to get quiet, the two naturally turned around to see what was going on. People wisely moved aside for Pinkamena Roza Diamonde and her more intimidating bodyguard Jazmin Yamazaki.

But what had caused many, Yugi included, to stare at the heiress as if mesmerized, was that she had changed out of her previous attire and into a full-length, light pink nightgown that seemed to make her glow in the moonlight like a ghostly maiden in stories, as her, surprisingly, bare feet padded silently across the dock. The black patch atop her head shone like ebony, making her light pink locks look paler like rose petals as her earrings glinted.

Jazmin, however, scowled and glared when she realized they were staring. Thankfully, before she notice Yugi, Joey nudged his friend playfully with a knowing smile, which turned into a smirk as Yugi got so embarrassed at being caught, his face turned bright red and he looked away just as Jazmin had looked in their general direction.

Stephanie, oblivious to all of this, walked up to a rail and leaned against it, not at all fazed by the slight chill in the air, having felt worse. Instead, she focused on watching the walls roll, her thoughts still racing with the crashing reality that her family...was gone. Pearl wouldn't be tucking her in tonight like always. Amethyst wouldn't be inadvertently lulling her to sleep with her snores and she wouldn't be waking up in the morning to Garnet's gentle voice. And those thoughts and more made tears prickle at her eyes, but she refused to let them fall, she refused to cry, she refused to give Pegasus the satisfaction.

 _'So what's your game Pegasus?'_ Stephanie wondered to herself silently, looking up at the moon, _'Why kidnap the Gems and Dad just to get me to participate in this tournament? Why me?'_ As much as she hated to think it, she did have an idea as she clenched a hand at the fabric that ghosted over her mother's gemstone. Did her mother have anything to do with this? Or did the incidents with Homeworld just have her over thinking this entire thing?

Shaking her head, Stephanie reached under her nightgown and pulled out the antique silver locket that her father gave her for her eighth birthday. It was as beautiful as it was simple in its classic oval-shaped design an intricate rose design on the front as its only decoration hanging from a matching silver chain, each petal sharp and precise, each leaf perfect, and, with the Gems' help, it had a very special feature.

When she opened it, a beautiful, soft melody drifted from within onto the breeze, catching Jazmin by surprise. It was a light sound, full of twinkling chimes as an equally soft light lit up the inside of the locket. Then, holograms, no more than three inches high, of Greg and Rose visualized atop the bottom half of the locket. A calm, serene smile fell across Stephanie's face as she watched the holograms of her parents curtsy to one another in a playful manner before they began to waltz across the locket's surface to the tune.

The light also revealed, on the inside of the locket's lid, the hand-drawn picture of her mother cradling her as a baby; a wishful if only.

She knew the tune all too well, as one of the very few that her mother had ever written and recorder. Well, an instrumental copy of one, anyways. But it didn't matter, not to her. She knew each word by heart.

But just as Stephanie started to hum along, a loud, distressed shout rang out, "Stop! What are you doing?" Making her shut the locket in surprise.

Stephanie yelped as the boys from before ran by, chasing another short male of around her height with light blue hair in a bowl-cut with gray eyes behind a pair of yellow-framed, bug-eyed glasses and wore a green jacket. She was confused at first, but her eyes widened as the tri-haired boy cried out, "My grandpa gave me those cards!" Before they narrowed and bled pink with anger, before she ran after them, much to Jazmin's alarm.

"My Diamo-" Jazmin started but caught herself with a shake of the head, "Miss Diamonde, wait!" As she ran after the much shorter girl, she mentally berated herself, _'Get a grip Jasper, just because they looks slightly similar doesn't make her-'_ Again, she shook her head.

"If I can't have Exodia, no one can!" Weevil grinned viciously, moving to toss the cards into the sea. "Don't you dare!" Stephanie shouted as she rushed past Joey and Yugi, catching the two off guard, she lunged for the cards, but was too slow. She, Yugi and Joey watched helplessly as the cards floated into the water.

Without thinking, Stephanie climbed onto the rail, "I'll get them!"

Much to the three boys' shock, "WHAT?"

Jazmin, upon seeing her climb onto the rail, had the closest thing a creature with no real heart could get to a heart-attack as she screamed, "PINK!" She made a panic-induced lunge for her, "NOOO!" But was too late as Stephanie dove after the cards.

Without hesitation, Yugi quickly climbed over the rail and dove after her as Jazmin's horror turned into rage as she whirled around to glare viciously at Weevil, who flinched instinctively at the pure hate in her eyes. Weevil then shrieked and slightly choked when she grabbed him roughly by the _throat_ and easily _lifted_ him off the ground to her eye level, giving him a good look into a burning fire that promised him pain and a very _slow_ death. Joey took an instinctive step back, remembering from his days on the streets that such strength meant to be vary wary of whoever was displaying it.

From their hiding places, Tristan and Tea could only watch with wide eyes. Tea covered her mouth to stifle her gasp, whilst Tristan was gaping. Tristan knew if the woman really wanted to, she could crush Weevil wind-pipe in two and he had the feeling that she knew it too.

"What. Did. You. _Do?_ " Jazmin growled in a dangerously quiet voice. "N-N-Nothing!" Weevil panicked, "I just did what Pegasus told m-" Wrong words to say, he quickly learned as she shook him.

As she did, Jazmin's glare intensified, if that was even possible, demanding harshly, "WHAT?" She then menacingly held up a finger, "Give me _one_ , _one_ good reason I **_shouldn't_** toss you in after them!"

Now Weevil was scared as he struggled uselessly in her grasp, all but shrieking in fear, "No! Please! I can't swim!" This just made her smirk wickedly as she walked over and held him over the rail, which made him scream, "Aaah! No! Bugs weren't made for the water!" The watching nearby duelists all watched with fearful expressions, keeping a distance out of fear of Jazmin's brute strength and lack of concern for those that wasn't Pinkamena.

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Yugi cursed his luck once more, wondering why this couldn't have happened during the day when the sun was out. At least then he could see better. But he just couldn't give up and pushed himself to swim harder towards the sinking figure. He couldn't let her die. Not like this. He didn't even get to tell her his name...

Suddenly, a pale, bright pink light shone out from around Pinkamena, lighting up the water and making it easier for Yugi to see. Pushing down his confusion to where the light was coming from, he quickly swam to her and wrapped his arms around. He then pushed himself upwards, the strange light providing easy direction to which way up was.

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"But worms are great fer fishin'," Joey interjected with a malicious smirk, cracking his knuckles, "Wonder what we'll catch with ya." Weevil paled in fear, while Tristan, despite the situation, snickered, which earned him a jab to the ribs from Tea.

The joke, however, was completely missed by Jazmin, who said semi-thoughtfully, "I'd say a nice sized Great White, but their far too...majestic for a pathetic maggot like you..." Weevil could only stare at her in terror as she started to let go slowly until she was only holding him up with two fingers, "Maybe a hammerhead...or a mako..." Her smirk turned into a savage smile, one full of teeth, "...or a tiger..."

Joey's eyes widened at the fact she might actually let go and looked out into the water. He did this just in time to see an odd pink light glowing from beneath the surface of the water. Not a few seconds later, a familiar head of spiky black and purple-tipped hair emerged from the water with a deep gasp for air along with a head of ebony and rose.

As the light slowly disappeared, Yugi spluttered for breath as he supported Stepahnie's head on his chest, leaning back to keep both of them floating above water as she coughed too. Joey shouted whilst pointing, "There they are!" Which gained Jazmin's attention before he rushed for a lifebuoy.

Jazmin pulled back so the wimpy organic was dangling above the safety of the floor. Weevil sighed in relief, only to choke and turn blue in the face when Jazmin's grip on him renewed and tightened to an almost crushing point and he was once again looking straight into a pair of amber pits of hellfire as she glared right into his very soul.

"If my Diamond gets seriously ill because of this, make no mistake, I _will_ hunt you down myself," She growled vaguely hearing the taller male shout something, "Got it?" When Weevil nodded quickly, she looked down upon hearing a dripping sound to see a smelly, yellow-looking liquid trickling down his leg to the floor.

Weevil had become so frightened off her, he had wet himself.

Jazmin's lip curled instinctively in disgust before she carelessly tossed him away with a harsh sneer, "Pathetic." Weevil wasted no time in running away, wanting to get as far away from Jazmin Yamazaki as possible.

When Jazmin turned back to the rail, she saw two new humans pulling a rope along with the blonde. Another male and a female.

The male was slightly taller than the blonde, but also a little shorter then Bismuth with tanned skin and dark brown hair that reminded the soldier of a Zircon, a gravity defying spike, and his eyes were a deep teal. He wore a white button up under a brown trench coat with a pair of black jeans and white sneakers with black soles and toes.

The girl, however, was roughly the Crystal Pearl's height and was just as skinny to boot with short light brown hair, light blue eyes and fair skin. Her shirt kind of reminded Jazmin of Yellow Diamond's personal Pearl with its puffy shoulders and being yellow in color, despite the bottom flaring like a skirt. She wore a pink waist coat over it and a blue mini-skirt with brown, knee-high boots.

"Hang on Yug'!" The blonde shouted as they continued pulling the rope in.

When Jazmin looked out over the rail, something in her chest lurched at the sight that greeted her. There in the water, the pipsqueak organic was clinging to an inflated, circular white and orange object with one arm and was using the other to support Stephanie, who didn't seem to be conscious. Without hesitance, Jazmin took the rope and began pulling with all her might at a near frantic pace. catching the three humans by surprise as they were forced to let go as a consequence.

Tea blinked at how easily the much bigger woman pulled the two shorter teens up by the single buoy all by herself, "She's strong."

Tristan and Joey quickly helped Stephanie and Yugi over the rail once the two were close enough and carefully set the two onto dry ground as the they cough, spluttered, gasped for air and shuddered all at once. "You okay Yugi?" Tristan asked as he helped keep the boy sitting up right.

"Ye-Yeah," Yugi coughed wiping his mouth with one sleeve and then water and hair out of his eyes with the other sleeve, "Is she-?"

"What were you _thinking?_ " Jazmin said tossing the buoy careless before pulling Stephanie into her arms, frightened that if she let go, the girl would disappear or try to dive back into the sea again, "Are you _trying_ to get me **_shattered_**?" The teens arched a brow at the last part, but from the younger girl's wince figured it was anything but good.

"No!" Stephanie almost shrieked, "It's just...I can't imagine how it'd feel to lose something with familial value and...I had to!"

"Why would you jump?" Tea asked. "I heard him shout how his grandpa gave him the cards and I never had a grandpa myself so...I couldn't imagine how it'd feel to lose them...and..." Stephanie tried to explain flushing, avoiding their eyes and they felt made at hearing her lack of family, "I just...acted..." But she then looked up at them as she perked up, "I managed to grab them though!"

When she held out her hand, Yugi felt his heart leap to see all five Exodia pieces. But when Stephanie saw the pictures, she lost her smile, "Oh...the illustrations...they're ruined!"

"The wha-?" Joey asked as he, Tristan and Tea leaned over to see as Yugi took the cards back. Both short teens shivered when they fingers touched, but wrote it off as the being wet and cold.

Tea gasped as Yugi looked through the Exodia cards, the water had caused the colored ink in the picture to run, causing the illustrations to look wrapped and distorted, "She's right; the cards are ruined!"

But Yugi gave a small, optimistic smile, "I think it isn't something that can't be fixed," He then gave her a grateful smile, eyes full of sincerity, "Thank you so much, but you didn't have to do that..." She blushed bashfully, much to Jazmin's amusement.

"Yeah, wouldn't Yug' losin' Exodia give ya an advantage?" Joey asked bluntly both confused and curious. "Joey!" Tea scolded jabbing him in the ribs. "What?" He asked confused at what he done wrong.

"Maybe...but...his grandfather gave him those cards," Stephanie shrugged uncaringly if she was at a disadvantage that he had the cards back, ruined or not, "I don't know what _I'd_ do if I ever lost my locket, so..." As she said this, Yugi glanced at the rather simple necklace as she clutched it and found it suited her.

"A...A...Achoo!" Stephanie's sneeze was so light and quiet, they almost missed it, but at the same time, it was hard to miss in the sudden silence as everyone looked at her as if seeing her state for the first time.

Yugi was pretty sure he had turned red all the way to his ears: the water had caused her nightgown to cling to her small, curvaceous body and the fabric was so light in color and thin, he could see the blue bra and panty set she wore underneath. It was amazing how he wasn't having a nose bleed right now.

"Better get you to the cabin before you actually do get sick," Jazmin said standing with Stephanie still in her arms, much to the girl's embarrassment as it made her look like a doll in the Amazon's arms. "I caaan-aachoo!...waaalk-achoo!...yo-yooouu-achoo! Now! Achoo!" Stephanie protested whilst sneezing, which Yugi was finding to be rather cute.

"So, she's a big CEO's daughter, huh?" Tristan decided to joke once they were out of earshot, "She ain't nothing like Kaiba."

"Thank God for small favors," Joey replied, "Cause one's bad enough!"

The group chuckled, unaware that nearby, they were being watched a pair of brown eyes, which had watched the entire thing, from when Weevil tossed the cards to now. A round, gold object hanging from the figure's neck glinted in the moonlight ominously before the figure left.

Meanwhile, in her cabin, a now dry and warm Stephanie laid in bed, listening to the melody within her locket, which sat open on the nightstand, slowly lulling her to sleep. Lapis had hung her wet clothes to dry on the towel rack in the adjoined bathroom and was now watching a new cartoon Peridot had wanted to try on the technician's tablet, while Bismuth and Jasper stood guard by Stephanie, but both ended up watching the holograms dance.

"She...she really... _isn't_ her..." Bismuth whispered earning an arched brow from the quartz next to her, "Stephanie is just so... _different_ from Rose, the leader I knew was gone and I just didn't want to believe it."

"You aren't the only one," Jasper responded quietly, "I _knew_ the difference between sire, carrier and offspring but...as soon as I saw that shield..."

Bismuth cracked a mirthless smile and whispered her guess, "All went over your head?" Jasper sighed and nodded, before looking back at the holograms as the one she didn't recognize dipped the one of the real Rose Quartz.

"So...she's really...gone..." Jasper got out and it was Bismuth's turn to nod, "It just...isn't fair!" Bismuth silently glanced at her, "Five thousand years...she got away with it because everyone thought she was obliterated by the Diamond Attack with the rest of her forces, and now that its obviously not the case she just...disappears!" Jasper held her head and slid down the wall, clearly upset that she didn't get to give Rose a piece of her mind for what she had done.

Bismuth just sat next to her and patted her shoulder, also visibly upset that she might never get to real closure for what Rose had done to her as well. Despite her initial joy to know that her side had won, she still felt horrible that a Gem had to be shattered as the price for it and she still couldn't believe that hypocritical Rose Quartz found a way to shatter a Diamond.

Lapis and Peridot just shared a look. All four were unaware that Stephanie wasn't completely asleep yet, having listened to everything. She looked up at her mother's portrait and allowed her tears to start flowing. Sleep wasn't going to come easy for her tonight, at all.

* * *

 **Ooh, poor Steph! It isn't your fault!**

 **But yeah, what do you guys think? Maybe not as action-packed as it could have been but we get to see Mai and Weevil and to make it better, we get to see Jasper(Jazmin) put the grubby worm in his place cause honestly see Jasper doing this to a human if they annoyed her enough. Scary, granted but I think its true to her character.**

 **Stephanie meet Yugi properly and the poor guy seems to be head-over-heels with love at first sight. She saved all five of his Exodia cards, but I made them ruined from the water, cause that realistically can happen, and it's an excuse to keep him from using them.**

 **Trust me things are going to more interesting trust me.**

 **I'm still waiting for suggestions for shipping names. I've got Yugi and Stephanie, Yami and Stephanie's Yami (still working on her name) and I'm defiantly leaning towards Joey and Lapis, maybe even Peridot and Kaiba...err...maybe being the key word for that last one, maybe even Tristan and Bismuth, sorry I'm not that big of a Tristan x Serenity (what the ships called) fan.**

 **Oh and as another shout out to suntan140, nice touch with the piece of a Lion King song, always been a fan myself, TLK forever! Let me know what you think of this one.**

 **Anywho, let me know what you guys think, till next time and please review.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own YuGiOh nor their original characters nor do I own Steven Universe and any of its original characters, cause if I did, Rose would've found a way to be able to exist at the same time with Steven! But a girl can dream.**

 **I hope you guys really like this chapter.**

 **LegionnaireBlaze _ I got to admit Rosetta Stone is actually a pretty clever name if you think about it.**

 **silvergolddragon _ I hope you like what goes on in this chapter too and to the ships PuzzledRose honestly sounds more like a pairing between Yugi or Yami/Atem and Rose/Pink Diamond. But it is a nice name and I can't find a list.**

 **foxchick1 _ Read this and find out! Hope you like it!**

* * *

That morning, Stephanie woke up, warm and refreshed, rubbing her eyes with a yawn and it took her a few seconds to remember where she was. Lapis was putting her now dry nightgown away and Peridot and Bismuth just got back with breakfast for everyone. It was quiet as they ate after she got re-dressed, the ominous anticipation for what was to come as soon as they were off the boat hung in the air. Stephanie had decided to where he locket openly for luck, setting a subtle contrast to her pink outfit and gold earrings.

"Looks like we're almost there," Bismuth commented as she looked out a window to see the nearing land. _'This is it,'_ Stephanie thought as she finished shuffling her deck and pocketed it, then adjusted her glove, _'Just hang on guys...I'm coming...'_

"Just remember, so long as we keep acting humans and keep our gemstones hidden," Peridot reminded sounding rather nervous, "No one will be the wiser." Jasper rolled her eyes but kept silent as Lapis and Bisumuth both nodded.

The Gems resumed their humans disguises and the group left the room, Liliya once again pulling the suitcase along. They were half way down the hall when a familiar voice called out, "Pink! Hey, Pinkamena!" It took Stephanie a few seconds to realize he was calling to her.

She turned around and smiled, "Hey, Yugi, right?" She saw out of the corner of her eye how Itzel, Liliya and Akira all tensed a little at the approaching human and quietly assured him, "He's a friend." Akira and Itzel relaxed slightly, but Liliya remained unsure and tense as the boy got closer, able to sense a strange presence around him that focused from the pendant he wore.

"Yeah," Yugi smiled as he caught up with them, "I just wanted to say 'thank you' again, for saving my grandfather's cards when they were thrown overboard."

"Wait, **_what now?_** " Liliya and Akira snapped making both Stephanie and Jazmin wince at the fury in the 'nurse's' eyes.

Despite the situation, Itzel chuckled as she patted Stephanie's head, commenting fondly, "Maybe you're as different from your mom as you thought."

While the comment threw Yugi for a loop, he didn't comment, seeing how it made Stephanie beam like the sun as she removed her sunglasses to look up at the rainbow-haired woman with hopefully eyes as she asked, "You think?" Itzel nodded.

"I _knew_ there was something off with your story!" Akira scowled up at Jazmin, who just stared back down at her, which made the sight a bit more comically hilarious in Yugi's opinion, "Rain my left hand!" Yugi blinked at the somewhat butchered phrase as Jazmin shrugged.

"Again, it's no biggie," Stephanie smiled regaining his attention, "What Underwood did was cheating and besides, like I said before, I don't know what I'd do if I ever lost my locket."

Akira and Liliya shared an exasperated yet knowing glance, smiling despite themselves as they resumed walking with Liliya once again took the lead in the diamond-shaped formation around Stephanie, this time making room for Yugi to walk next to her with Akira on Stephanie's other side, Itzel on Yugi's and Jazmin right behind them. Yugi found the formation strangely military based but found it fitting given Itzel and Jazmin's appearances.

"I...I actually wanted to ask you about your earrings," Yugi admitted after a moment, "Where did you get them?"

"I got them yesterday as a gift," Stephanie answered without much hesitation brushing some hair back to touch an earring, its ruby back-stud gleamed in the light, "Don't ask from who though, they didn't leave a name," She then glanced down at his pendant, "What's the story behind the puzzle?"

Yugi rose a brow, "What makes you call it a puzzle?" After all, ever since he put it on the chain necklace, people just assumed it was a wonky pendant his grandfather had gotten him from a trip to Egypt and he was too nice to say no it. This was one of the few times since he completed the puzzle that anyone had ever called it a puzzle without being in the immediate know-how.

"Well, the lines are kinda a clue," Stephanie joked lightly, making Yugi chuckle a bit remembering the talltale detail.

"My grandpa found it in a recently discovered tomb in Egypt," Yugi said in response to her question, smiling as he thought about his grandfather, "He knew how much I love puzzles, so he gave it to me, saying that if I could solve it, I could get a wish."

This peeked the disguised aliens' interests, "Wish?"

"Yeah," Yugi nodded as they headed up to the top deck and Stephanie put her sunglasses back on, "The story goes that whoever completes the Millennium Puzzle would be granted a single wish."

 _'Millennium Puzzle, huh?'_ Stephanie wondered idly once again touching one of her earrings, _'Guess that makes these the Millennium Earrings.'_

"Hey guys!" Yugi called out pulling her out of her thoughts to see the other teens from last night. "Hey Yug'!" The brunette male grinned especially upon noticing how the blonde was turning red as Liliya got closer, "Pinkamena and Jazmin, right?"

Jazmin merely grunted, whilst Stephanie gave a smile that she could only pray it didn't look too tense or nervous as she replied, "That's me! Friends call me Pink!" She mentally cringed realizing how she was basically robbing the fallen Diamond her mother supposedly shattered however small in ways or how unintentional.

"We can see why," Tea chuckled, "I'm Tea, Tea Gardener."

"And I'm Tristan Taylor," Tristan added eyes straying to Itzel and secretly admired how the sun made her multi-colored dreadlocks glow, "And you are...?"

"Bis-" The rainbow-haired woman began to introduce, but Akira nudged her and she caught herself, "Er-It-Itzel It's Itzel Hou."

"Itzel, huh?" Tristan commented with a sincere smile, "It suits you."

Itzel blinked momentarily thrown for a loop until she remembered the meaning behind the name one of the teens back in Beach City had chosen for her and flushed, "Th-thanks..." Stephanie grinned at this and tried to hide her giggle by feigning a cough.

"Joey, hi Wheeler I'm," Joey said in a slightly rushed voice still staring admiringly at Liliya, whilst trying not to invade her personal space, only to then realize what he said and tried to amend, embarrassed, "Err, I mean, Wheeler, Joey I'm hi," As Liliya smirked a little, Joey shook his head and finally said correctly, "I mean, hi, I'm Joey Wheeler."

Liliya looked at the offered hand for a moment before accepting and shaking it, still smirking, "Liliya Mizushima."

"And I'm Akira Oshiro," The green-haired girl added, "So, I'm assuming you four are Miss Diamonde's future adversaries?"

Stephanie's cheeks flared at the technician's forwardness and scolded her, "Pe-Akira!"

"What?" Akira asked genuinely confused. Surprisingly, Tristan speaks up, not sounding at all offended, "Nah, just Yugi and Joey are the duelists, Tea and me are just here for moral support." Stephanie smiled at this, genuinely glad that they had more friends on their side then just each other.

"So, anyone know how much longer till we get tah the island?" Joey asked with enthusiasm, "Cause I can't wait tah start duelin'!"

"Soon," Akira answered. "I just hope I don't screw something up," Stephanie said mostly to herself, rubbing her arm self-consciously, "My family...I can't fail."

Yugi looked at her sympathetically, "Hey Pink, don't worry, I'm sure you'll do great."

"Thanks Yugi," Stephanie smiled gratefully, a smile he returned. Jazmin, stone-faced, said stoically, "We're here." Sure enough, a few of them jerked as the boat docked.

As Stephanie's group walked off the ship, the dual-haired girl wasn't entirely surprised to see the other duelists giving them a wide berth as they passed. But as she looked over the crowd, she was surprised by how large it was, proving Akira right when she said Pegasus had invited finalists, semi-finalists and champions from leagues around the world. It wasn't hard for her to feel intimidated.

"Hey, where's Kaiba?" She overhead one duelist. "He's not attending," Another answered, "That star-haired kid that was talking to Miss Rich and Pink is the one to beat now."

This made Stephanie blink and look back at Yugi in surprise, " _Yugi_ defeated Seto Kaiba?"

"Looks like your mate already has a reputation," The disguised blacksmith joked making Akira and Liliya nearly trip over themselves in shocked-horror. Stephanie looked at the rainbow-haired woman in confusion, "What's a mate?"

Akira quickly, and a bit panickedly, shook her head, making a cutting motion for Itzel to change the subject, while Lapis just settled for glaring Itzel into shutting up. Jazmin, thankfully, caught on and elbowed her fellow impromptu Ruby, before simply telling the hybrid, "Ask your Pearl when you get her back."

Stephanie adopted a cross-eyed look of confusion, before shrugging, not bothering to correct her that Pearl wasn't hers. It was basically a losing battle, so why bother?

But then, a man in a suit wearing normal, dark-tinted sunglasses, called out for everyone to hear, "Alright everyone, listen up!" When everyone looked over at him, he continued, "You're all required to head to the castle before the tournament begins."

All the duelists, including Stephanie's and Yugi's respective groups, followed him towards the castle, which was on the taller part of the island. As they walked, Akira looked around and spied a boy Stephanie's age, roughly an inch or so shorter than Liliya, with pale skin and long, white-blonde hair and dark brown eyes. He wore a beige sweater, dark jeans and what caught Akira's interest was the circular, golden, ring-like pendant hanging from a rope around the boy's neck. Hanging from the outside of the ring were several golden, diamond-shaped pointers and in the center was a triangular, golden, pyramid-like, flat surface with the same eye-symbol on Yugi's puzzle and Stephanie's earrings.

When gray met brown, the boy's eyes widened before he vanished from her sight by stepping behind a tree. Akira was pulled out of her staring when Liliya tapped her shoulder and asked, "You okay?"

Akira shook her head before answering, "Yeah, I'm fine."

At the castle, the duelists were all gathered with Stephanie's and Yugi's groups being in each other's sight. Everyone was looking up at the castle's front balcony, where another man in a suit in glasses stood, announcing for all to hear, "Presenting the creator of Duel Monster and the host of the Duelist Kingdom Tournament, Maximillion Pegasus!"

Stephanie felt her chest clench at the sight of the familiar silver hair and red suit as the man appeared on the balcony, a calm smile on his face. Her fists clenched tight and she suddenly felt like punching something, anything really. Pegasus, seemingly unaware, scanned the crowd calmly before smirking as his sights settled on Yugi, who glared at him without care for consequence, and Stephanie, who pulled on her hat's brim in effort to hide her identity from him, lips pulled into a tight frown.

Pegasus chuckled. He had to give the girl points where there are due. He almost didn't recognize her. Pink wasn't exactly a common hair color, but he knew better than to naturally assume every person with pink hair was automatically related. In fact, he almost didn't recognize the four women with her. He knew it was her, but he was going to entertain her in the idea that this little charade of hers was working, if anything to get the satisfaction to see the look on her face when she got to the castle.

"So...that's him, huh?" Itzel asked rhetorically as the four Gems glared up at the man, Stephanie could only nod, not trusting her voice at the moment. "Mrgrgr...!" Akira audibly growled, "Just give me five minutes with the guy!"

Liliya cracked her knuckles un-abashedly as she added quiet and menacingly, "Just give me two..."

From behind her sunglasses' dark pink tinted lens, Stephanie's pupils slowly changed into vaguely diamond or four-pointed star shape and the brown color gained a reddish-tint as she growled out, "I need one...!" Jazmin was the only who heard this and glanced at her with an unreadable expression.

"Welcome one and all to my most humble little island," Pegasus spoke for all to hear, "Here you stand, the best duelists in the world, from Weevil Underwood of the Regional Championship, to Rex Raptor, the runner up of the very same tournament; however, come the end of this tournament, only _one_ of you shall be crowned the King or Queen of Games, the runner up shall be fairly proclaimed Prince or Princess."

As Pegasus paused to let the words sink in, Stephanie and Yugi both pulled out their decks. "I implore that you all assemble your decks with care, creativity and cunning," Pegasus advised, "To track your progress in this tournament, you're all been given a Dueling Glove and two precious Star Chips, you _must_ wager these in _every_ duel you have, and all around this island are state of the art arenas for you to duel with."

Stephanie looked at her glove worriedly, well aware that while Mankind had made as many leaps and bounds in technology compared to Gemkind, as Akira had always brought up from one time to another, she certainly knew that a big CEO like Pegasus had access to state of the art tracking devices, and she wouldn't put it past him to put one in at least her glove. She also knew she had to be careful from here on in, else she would never see her family again.

"Once you have all eight Star Chips, you will be allowed entry to the castle to compete as one of eight finalists," Pegasus continued to explain his rules, "The final eight will compete against each for to a final one-on-one showdown where they will fight for the final duel with me."

 _'I'll bet my gemstone he's got Pearl, Amethyst and Garnet somewhere in there,'_ Stephanie thought biting her cheek as she took in all of the men in suits, _'But I can't just sneak in there, there's too many guards, even with Lapis and Jasper using their full power,'_ She then looked back at her Dueling Glove, _'Guess I'll just have to play along for now...'_ As she calmed with this acceptance, she was unaware that her pupils changed back to normal as she relaxed her fists.

"Now then, you all have a single hour to prepare for the tournament, I suggest you prepare your deck and _yourself_ ," Pegasus stated, "Once the sky lights up with fireworks the tournament will begin." That said, he turned on his heel and walked back into the castle.

Jazmin and Itzel both looked confused, "Fireworks?" Both Akira and Liliya shrugged just as lost.

As the duelists all began to walk off in random directions, Stephanie finally spoke up, "I don't know if I can do this..."

"Not sure if you really have a choice at this point, brat," Jazmin commented. "What happened to that optimism and smile that knew no bounds, anyways?" Akira asked finding the change in her friend's attitude really disturbing at this point, she didn't want to see the normally cheerful girl frown.

"It got stolen with the Crystal Gems!" Stephanie half-heartedly snapped in answer, "I always had at least one of them to fall back on for advice, but now I don't!"

"Steph, you're the one who said that as long as I believed in myself, nothing can stop me," Akira said trying to be supportive and ignored how Jazmin snorted, "So, I'm sure you'll understand when I say that, as long as you have hope and belief in _yourself_ there's no _chance_ that you can lose." After a moment, Stephanie smiled a little, making them all smile more genuinely a bit themselves.

They all jumped when a sudden explosion filled the air and turned back to the castle as bright flashes of color filled the clear sky, much to the older older women's awe. "Amazing..." Itzel breathed. "Beautiful..." Liliya agreed. "You should see them at night..." Stephanie remarked, "So, what's first?"

"I'd **love** to see you crush that rotten little worm into the ground," Jazmin snarled violently, slamming her fist into a palm, scowling at the memory of a certain bug-duelist. "Just out of curiosity," Akira spoke up, not looking at them, "What does this _'worm'_ look like exactly?"

"About Pinkie's height," Jazmin began still refusing to use Stephanie's actual name, "With weird visors."

"Glasses," Stephanie corrected a little irritated by the new nickname. "Whatever," The tallest of their group shrugged uncaringly, "Light blue hair."

"You mean like him?" Akira asked pointing where she was looking, which made them all blink before turning to look where she was pointing to see Weevil standing far to the side among the bushes and trees. "That's him!" Jazmin growled.

But then, Yugi shouted, "Weevil, I challenge you to a duel!" But strangely, Weevil cackled loudly and fled into the woods, prompting both groups to give chase.

"Get back 'ere ya weasel!" Joey yelled. Jazmin promptly added in a furious voice, "C'mere you little piece of filth!"

Liliya shot her former fusion-partner a dry look as they ran, "Yeah...like that's gonna make him turn around." But Jazmin ignored her.

"Man," Tristan panted as they ran down the nearly overgrown trail, "He sure is fast for a little guy!"

Akira was the one who retorted, "No, you're just slow for a _big_ guy!" Despite saying this, she was running just a few steps a head of him with Stephanie sprinted ahead of them, Yugi and Jazmin being the only ones keeping up with her.

 _'I don't like this...'_ Jazmin thought despite her initial anger. _'Why is he leading us all the way out here?'_ Yugi wondered to himself confused. _'I got a bad feeling about this,'_ Stephanie worried.

But then, hundreds of moths emerged from the trees and bushes, flying around them. "Yuck bugs!" Tea gagged in disgust, covering her head. "What are those?" Itzel asked confused, yet a little freaked out. "Aren't moths supposed to be nocturnal?" Akira questioned ignoring Itzel's question, "What are doing out now?"

Finally, Weevil stopped in the middle of a spacious meadow, wisely keeping a far distance as Stepahnie, Yugi and Jazmin followed him into it. It didn't deter Yugi though, "Caught you!" Imagine the two's surprise as a glowing, golden Eye of Horus appeared on his forehead, "It's time to answer for what you did on the boat!"

Then, a white glow formed on the symbol of his puzzle, enveloping Yugi in a cone of white light as he yelled out with an echo in his voice, "YU-GI-OH!"

When the light died down, it revealed that Yugi had changed. The most notable change was his growth in height, just a few inches shorter then Liliya, and he had gone from lanky and thin like Pearl, to having a noticeable slight muscle gain to complement the height gain. Another change was that the amethyst purple tips of his hair were now red with three distinctive lightning bolt-like, golden blonde streaks. His face had lost its child-like, cherub-like roundness and was now sharp and angular.

The most notable change, however, was his posture. No longer was he squaring his shoulders in and holding in his arms close to his chest in a show of timidness and hesitence. He stood tall and confident, shoulders relaxed and a hand in his pocket. His clothes having been somehow modified for his new body.

And when he finally opened his eyes, he revealed that they were no longer amethyst purple nor were they big and round with innocence. They were now a bloodstone red filled with a calming resolve and a determined confidence that were now sharp in shape and powerful to look into, like a Diamond.

Stephanie and Jazmin were badly taken off guard as they stared, sharing similar thoughts, _'Is this some sort of shape-shifting?'_ Weevil, however, was strangely unfazed by the transformation.

"Alright Weevil," Yugi stared him down unyieldingly, his voice now a deep baritone that sent a shiver up then right back down the younger quartz' spine, "Time to see if you duel as well as you run."

Weevil's only response was to smirk with something dark and scheming in his eyes "Was I running or simply luring you into my web?" Both females tensed, instantly not liking where this was going.

"Yugi..." Stephanie started to warn, but he held out an arm to her, cutting her off. Looking over his shoulder, he gave her a kind, reassuring smile as his features softened, which made her relax at something familiar on this strange new face, "Trust me, _Hime*._ "

The combination of his expression and how warm, sincere and reassuring his tone was along with his actual new voice and what he called her caused Stephanie to blush like a tomato with pink leaves, her heart racing. Jazmin looked between the two with a slightly arched eyebrow, feeling strangely thrown for a loop and ignored.

At this moment, the others arrived.

Like Weevil; Joey, Tristan and Tea didn't seem to notice the metamorphosis their friend had gone under, but it wasn't missed by Itzel, Akira and Liliya and while it left them momentarily gaping, it also threw them for a loop on what they thought they knew about human biology. Just a few seconds ago the human was just inches taller than Stephanie, now he was almost Liliya's height.

"I thought humans can't shape-shift!" Itzel hissed to the other two. "They can't!" Liliya hissed back badly confused, eyes glued to the new form Yugi had taken. "They're bodies aren't composed of light, their forms takes an _extended_ amount of time to change!" Akira added in a hushed whisper, flabbergasted, "I-I-I don't under-!"

But her near ramblings were cut off by Yugi's confident declaration, expression and tone changing as he addressed Weevil, "It's time to duel!"

This was followed by Weevil continuing to smirk as he shouted back, "As you wish!" The ground then began to shake violently, much to everyone's shock as Tea, Joey and Akira were knocked off their feet.

"IT'S THE DIAMONDS!" Itzel panicked before tackling Tristan to the ground, "HIT THE DECK!"

Liliya dropped the suitcase and threw herself to the ground, covering her head with her arms, frightened as she yelled, "TAKE COVER!"

Weevil just stood there, smirking still and completely unfazed by the sudden shaking.

"What have you done?" Yugi demanded as he and Stephanie kept each other from falling, but they both failed to notice the ground beginning to open under their feet. Thankfully, Jazmin did and it made her eyes widen.

"WATCH IT!" The white-haired woman shouted before grabbing Yugi and Stephanie by the waists, startling them, before performing a powerful backflip to avoid falling.

They all watched in shocked-awe as an arena with two platforms, one blue, the other red, rose up slowly from the opening, making them all gasp. "What in the-?" Yugi gasped stunned.

"Didn't Pegasus say these arenas would be all over the island?" Akira asked as everyone calmed down, prompting Joey and Tea to nod upon remembering that part of the man's speech. Liliya, however, narrowed her eyes in suspicion, mind racing, _'But how could Weevil know this was here? Why lead us to this arena?'_

"Um...Hau? Hau?" Tristan's face was bright red and sounded both winded and embarrassed from being both tackled and pinned by the larger female, "Erm, Itzel?"

"Hmm?" Itzel finally acknowledged as she looked down at him and for a split second Tristan stared, silver meet onyx, before oxygen interrupted. "You...y-you can...get...off...m-me n-now..." Tristan wheezily informed as she had yet to notice something wrong.

"Huh?" Itzel said confused before finally noticing the position they were in and quickly got up, embarrassed, yelping sheepishly, "Whoops!" She then rubbed the back of her head with a sheepish smile, "Sorry, forgot how fragile you guys can be sometimes!" Tristan just looked at her both confused and a little offended.

"You can get up now," Joey told Liliya, now on his feet and offering her a helping hand, which she accepted and allowed him to pull her gently back onto her own feet. "Something's not right here," She told him, eyes narrowed onto Weevil. "Yeah, not only is da twerp arragent," Joey agreed glaring at Weevil as well, "But he's up tah somethin' no good too!"

"See you on the field!" Weevil said once Jazmin set Yugi and Stephanie down, before rushing to the red platform, got on the lift and it started to rise like an elevator, but not before he added, "Unless you'd rather I snare your little girlfriend first!"

Yugi growled almost ferally along side Jazmin, but Yugi was the only one to run over to the blue lift to follow suit, despite Stephanie trying to protest, "Yugi, wait!"

"I don't like this," Jazmin stated in a serious voice as the groups joined her and Stephanie, "As much as I'd love to the little worm get crushed, something about this doesn't feel right."

"Worse, Yug's at a disadvantage with only one Star Chip," Joey said in worry. "What?" Stephanie gasped in shock. "Why does he-?" Akira started wondering if Pegasus cheated the shorter male.

"He gave me one so I could duel in dah tournament," Joey explained holding up a Star Chip of his own, "Now its gonna bite 'im!" Despite the situation, Stephanie had to crack a tiny smile at Yugi's generosity.

But a cackle made them refocus on the two duelists in the arena. "I see you only have one Star Chip Yugi, which means that I'll have the upmost pleasure of eliminating you from the tournament," Weevil smirked arrogantly, "And once you're gone everyone else will be easy pickings!"

"Not if I take all of yours first," Yugi calmly rebutted despite the underling, lingering anger that burned in him from his and Stephanie's near fall had it not been for Jazmin's quick reflexes, "This is going to be an all or nothing duel."

"Why should I risk both of my Star Chips when you only have one?" Weevil asked. "Because I have something you want so badly you were willing to lose it to the sea if it meant no one else could use it," Yugi stated holding up a familiar set of cards in protective casing, "The unstoppable Exodia!" Stephanie gasped in shocked-worry.

"Eh!" Jazmin shouted indigently, "My-Err!" She caught herself, " _Miss_ Diamonde didnn't nearly drown or catch a cold for those cards just for you to gamble them away!"

"Why would I want them now?" Weevil asked masking his displeasure for all five's retrieval with amusement for the others' reactions to Yugi offer, "They're ruined."

"But not beyond repair," Yugi argued, "And if I win, you never show your face again."

"And if I win I get your grandfather's most prized acer," Weevil laughed with a grin, "And it'll make it easier for me to exterminate Diamonde too!"

Stephanie stepped back in reflex at the dark look on the boy's face as the other four Gems tensed and moved closer to her at his choice of words. Tea was also shocked by them, "Exterminate?"

"If you want Pink you'll have to get through me first!" Jazmin scowled fiercely. "And me!" Itzel added frowning. "Me too!" Liliya agreed glaring. "Don't forget me!" Akira added making Stephanie smiled a little, filling her with confidence, thought she was concerned about Jazmin more or less calling her Pink Diamond, but let it go for the moment.

Instead, she said to her fellow duelist and called to him, "Swat him like the bug he is Yugi!" He looked at her with a slightly amused expression but nodded.

"Duel!" Yugi and Weevil shouted as their life-points were set and shown on the sides of their platforms. The field then changed in appearance from a gigantic grid to a holographic image not too unlike their surroundings, the trees being clustered closer to Weevil and Yugi's side was much like a swamp or barren wasteland.

 **Yugi LPs: 2000**

 **Weevil LPs: 2000**

"Look at those graphics!" Akira gasped fangirling as everyone stared. "It's certainly impressive," Itzel commented whilst Jazmin snorted. Stephanie simply tilted her head thoughtfully as she stared and Joey commented dazedly, "We're defiantly not in Kansas anymore..."

Weevil drew the first card and placed one on his field. Everyone yelled out in shock as a giant hologram of a gigantic wasp appeared on the slimy duelist's side of the forest-like field. _'It's just like my duel with Pegasus!'_ Stephanie thought in shock with wide eyes as Liliya pushed her behind her and Akira as both the greenette and Tea shrieked in fright, whilst Tristan, Joey, Jazmin and Itzel tensed in alarm of the large creature.

"How do you like my Killer Needle, Yugi?" Weevil asked as Yugi drew.

 **Killer Needle. Attribute: WIND. Tribe: INSECT. Lv: 4. ATK/DEF: 1200/1000**

"You'll have to get through my Mammoth Graveyard firs," Yugi said calmly as he played his own card and the massive skeleton of a mammoth appeared with a loud trumpeting noise whilst rearing to make an entrance, which made Akira shriek and fall over in shock.

"W-W-What is that?" The technician shouted startled. _'He looks a lot like my Amber Mammoth,'_ Stephanie realized after staring at the animated skeleton. She then took out said card and compared the two, finding her assessment not far off from the truth. The most big and obvious differences were the facts that Mammoth Graveyard was an animated skeleton of the ancient elephant, while her Amber Mammoth was a living version covered in sleek fur. Another difference was the fact her Mammoth wore armor and three pairs of tusks while Yugi's had no armor and only the traditional one pair.

 **Mammoth Graveyard. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: DINOSAUR. Lv: 3. ATK/DEF: 1200/800**

"This massive monster wil match your Killer Needle point for point," Yugi stated confidently, but Weevil didn't look concerned, in fact, he was smirking, which made Liliya suspicious. "Yugi, wait!" The blue-haired nurse shouted but was too late.

Yugi called the order, "Attack!" Like her own furry elephant, Mammoth Graveyard gave another trumpeting noise before charging with its tusks poised for assult.

"Killer Needle," Weevil ordered as well, "Attack!" The large wasp flew at the charging fossil and to everyone's shock, save for Weevil's, Yugi's monster was the one destroyed in a burst of data.

"Ugh...what just happened?" Itzel asked more confused than shocked. "Pipsqueak made a stupid mistake, is what happened," Jazmin stated unemotionally.

"No, something's off here!" Akira argued, "I read the entire basic dueling manual _three_ times on the plane, _both_ monsters should have been destroyed, no just Yugi's!"

This turned Jazmin's face into a scowl as she demanded hotly, "You meant that dishonorable worm is cheating _again?_ "

"Figured it out yet? Take a look at the field," Weevil explained trying to hide his fear of the tall woman with arrogance over his knowledge of the arena and motioned to it with a smug smile, "It resembles the surroundings of one part wasteland, one part forest and guess who thrieves in the forest..." He purposely trailed off.

Stephanie gasped as if it finally contected in her head, "Bugs!" Everyone looked at her as she snapped her fingers in her epiphany, "It's just like field spells!"

"Eh!" Her group and the rest of Yugi's group said in confusion while Yugi himself gave her a fond smile, while Weevil frowned at her for stealing his thunder. "Field spell?" Tristan echoed confused. "What's a field spell?" Tea asked.

"They're really special spell cards that effect both sides of the field when activated, their effects can vary, even effecting spells and traps instead of monsters, but they most commonly effect monsters, mostly increasing certain ones' attack and defense points or decreasing others," Stephanie explained remembering when she had asked the Cool Kids about them, "My guess is that the arenas operate similarly."

"Exactly, as long as I play insects on his field, they get a power bonus," Weevil explained as Yugi frowned at him, "I guess none of you were paying attention when Pegasus said this tournament would have some exciting new surprises, maybe if you did what I did and stole a rule book, you'd be getting the power bonus instead of me!" Weevil laughed as his wasp's power rose.

 **Killer Needle ATK/DEF: 1560/1300**

"That isn't fair!" Surprisingly, it was Stephanie who shouted, her anger giving her just enough confidence to voice what everyone was thinking, "You purposely led us here so you'd have an unfair advantage!"

"Oh be quiet Pinkie, so what if I cheated a little?" Weevil retorted rudely much to Stephanie's irritation, "Everyone does."

"What did you just call me?" Stephanie surprised everyone with a growl, shoulders squared and hands clenched at her sides, looking like an enraged pink kitten, at least in Yugi and the spirit of the puzzle's opinions, anyways.

Itzel frowned as well, "Jazmin's right, you _are_ a dishonorable little worm!" Jazmin smirked at being backed up.

Weevil just shrugged carelessly, "Who needs honor when you can be a winner?" The group of on-lookers growled, Stephanie opened her mouth to argue, but was cut off by Yugi, who started laughing, much to everyone's confusion.

"Is he cracked?" Akira asked. "What's so funny?" Weevil demanded but was shocked as his Killer Needle disappeared, "No, impossible! This makes no sense!"

"Looks like Yugi's monster got a field power bonus, too," Liliya smirked in amusement at seeing Weevil squirm. "Explains why Yug' life points didn't drop," Joey commented looking at said score, both of which were still two thousand.

"How can this be?" Weevil demanded. "Looks like my Mammoth Graveyard got a field power bonus from the wasteland part of the field," Yugi grinned making Weevil frown at him, "Just as your bugs do from the meadow."

"The power bonus was suppose to be mine and mine alone," Weevil said through gritted teeth.

"You know, I wondered on the boat why out of all the locations in the world, Pegasus chose to host his tournament here," Yugi remarked, "But then it became clear, this island has all sorts of environments and every type of monster has a field they do better in," Weevil's only response was a cackle as Yugi glared at him, "Pink- _hime_ is right, these are **_exactly_** like field spells!"

Stephanie blushed at the nickname and was pleased at being vocally confirmed right. Tea and Akira both looked at her with amused smirks as the more formally dressed of the two commented, "Pink- _hime_ , huh?" Which made Stephanie blush harder in embarrassment.

"You think you're so smart to figure it out like that," Weevil said cockily, "But there are so many secrets and I know them all!"

"Cocky much?" Itzel muttered to Tristan, who snorted. "You can do it Yugi!" Tea cheered. "Don't let him psyche you out!" Liliya added. "Yeah, he's bluffin'!" Joey agreed making Weevil laugh as he drew.

"We'll see about that," Weevil said before playing a card, "My Hercules Beetle will defeat you!" A giant beetle formed on his side of the field and snapped its pincers menacingly.

 **Hercules Beetle. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: INSECT. Lv: 5. ATK/DEF: 1500/2000**

It instantly got the power bonus.

 **Hercules Beetle. ATK/DEF: 1950/2600**

 _'I can't rebuild my deck now,'_ Yugi thought after drawing a new cards and looked at his hand carefully, _'So maybe a combo attack...'_ He played a card and a green, winged-imp creature appeared on his field as he said, "I summon the Feral Imp!"

 **Feral Imp. Attribute: DARK. Tribe(s): FIEND/NORMAL. Lv: 4. ATK/DEF: 1300/1400**

"And I play the magic card Horn of the Unicorn," Yugi continued, "To increase its power." A yellow, notched horn grew on the imp's head and it crackled with a blue lightning as it gained power.

 **Feral Imp. ATK/DEF: 2000/1400**

"Impressive," Jazmin commented. "Now go!" Yugi ordered, "Magic Lightning!"

Stephanie knew she wasn't the only one who flinched as the blast of lightning streaked across the field, nor was she the only one having flashes of Yellow Diamond using her electrokinesis to poof gems. Imagine everyone's surprise when the attack struck but didn't destroy the beetle, instead, it was redirected at Feral Imp, who was destroyed.

"Is this another trick?" Yugi demanded as his life points did drop this time, "That had more than enough power to destroy your beetle."

 **Yugi LPs: 1350**

"I guess you didn't know, monsters powered by the power bonus are immune to any type of magic attacks," Weevil smiled wickedly, "And since my beetle deflected your lightning bolts, he had more than enough power to destroy your imp!" Yugi frowned as he cackled.

"As long as that bug has the power bonus his weakest beetle has the potential to become a powerhouse," Akira said not happy. "I hate to say it, but that worm might be tougher to beat than I thought...in a duel, anyways," Jazmin painfully admitted with much reluctance, the others all nodded in agreement, save one.

Stephanie didn't want to admit it, so instead, she cheered, "C'mon Yugi, I know you can beat him!" Yugi glanced at her with a smile.

"Time to play defense," Yugi muttered playing a monster face-down.

"So you're defending," Weevil mused, "It won't matter once I play my Basic Insect." The monster was a giant praying mantis with glowing red eyes.

 **Basic Insect. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: INSECT. Lv: 2. ATK/DEF: 500/700**

"But I'm upgrading him with a level three laser," Weevil continued as a cannon materialized on his mantis' back.

 **Basic Insect. ATK/DEF: 800/1000**

"And I'm giving him a level two power boost," Weevil continued as a generator appeared on either side of the cannon, which increased its power further alongside the power bonus.

 **Basic Insect. ATK/DEF: 2600/1560**

"Oh no!" Stephanie said in worry, "Now his monster is more powerful!" Jazmin, Itzel, Akira and Liliya gritted their teeth as Yugi's friends became worried, "Yugi be careful!"

"Now Yugi!" Weevil grinned widely, "For all the bugs you've crushed, stomped, squashed or fumigated, its payback time!" Basic Insect fired its new armament, destroying Yugi's monster, leaving him defenseless, "You're finished Yugi!"

* * *

 **And I think I'm just going to leave it there for now!**

 **Yugi's first duel as well as the first duel into the tournament is well underway and I like to think I added a few laughs along the way, and Stephanie and co have met Yami. Let me know what you guys think.**

 **Oh and in case you can't tell, yeah, I don't like Weevil. Just one of those side-villains you can't find _anything_ nice about at all. Don't know about Rex, maybe I might try to give him some redemption. Maybe. Might include more of Mako, you know the ocean-duelist Yugi duels later into the tournament. Anyways...**

 **I'm also officially calling the Yugi x Fem!Steven(AKA Stephanie) shipping Starcrossed at the suggestion of foxchick1 after much thought and a lot of options considered. I'm also considering calling the Lapis X Joey ship either SeaPuppy or MirrorWolf. I might be entertaining the idea of Bismuth X Tristan (again, sorry to you Tristan X Serenity fans), shoot some ideas for that one.**

 **Let me know what you guys think in the reviews! PEACE! ;)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own YuGiOh nor their original characters nor do I own Steven Universe and any of its original characters, cause if I did, Rose would've found a way to be able to exist at the same time with Steven! But a girl can dream.**

 **I hope you guys really like this chapter.**

 **suntan140 _ Thanks, all credit to the name goes to foxchick1 though! Hmm, I didn't really think of it like that, but remember, Yami/Atem doesn't have any of his full memories right now, just little fragments and feelings, so maybe he found something familiar when he looked at her but can't make a connection.**

 **LegionnaireBlaze _ You're welcome, truth is truth! And thank you for pointing that out, to my own defense I haven't watched the original Yu-Gi-Oh in, wow, a rather long while, and I can't find a site that has the full episodes in English Dub and I've had to use mostly my memory and try confusing Subs.**

 **foxchick1 _ I'm glad you love it and hope you love this new one! And let me know if you have anymore ideas for ship-names!**

 **Now, on with the duel!**

* * *

"It's over Yugi!" Weevil stated with a wicked grin, "You have no hope to stand against my basic Insect with its laser powered arsenal."

"Don't listen to him Yugi!" Stephanie frowned stomping her foot hard in protest, unknowingly (and accidentally) crushing Akira's toes under her wedge heel, "You can do it!" Yugi looked at her with a smile and nodded, mentally laughing at the comically pained look on Akira's face as she stifled her yelp by clamping both hands over her mouth, which Stephanie didn't notice.

 _'Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!'_ Akira thought as pain shot up her leg, _'Oh, am I glad we can't poof in these forms! Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!"_

"I know," Yugi spoke calmly, "So that is why I play this card." Yugi played a card face-down.

 _'How long can he keep up the defense?'_ Itzel and Jazmin both wondered. _'Another defense card, huh?'_ Weevil thought, _'Well, I'll just have to make sure defending is all he can do!'_ He held up a card and said, "To keep you on the defensive, I'll play this trap card," Immediately, all four disguised Gems arched a brow, "If you attack with any monster, you'll activate it instantly!"

"Damn it!" Tristan cursed in frustration, "Now that parasite's got Yugi cornered!"

"Now what?" Tea asked in concern. "Yugi can't even counter attack, this is bad," Joey gritted his teeth and clenched his shaking fists, only to blink when something grabbed one of his hands. He looked down to see Liliya had covered one of his hands with her smaller, daintier one, in a gesture of comfort, making his blush to his ears.

"As long as this trap card is in place, you're powerless against me!" Weevil smirked arrogantly as Yugi frowned in concentration. Stephanie subconsciously growled, unintentionally grinding her heel into Akira's toes, making the poor technician yelp in pain. Her voice became strained and strangled sounding as she hissed, "Steph...!"

 _'He's so busy bragging about how he'll beat me, he isn't paying any attention to my moves at all,'_ Yugi realized as an idea hatched in his mind before he set a card face-down without Weevil really noticing, _'Maybe I can set a trap for him.'_

"So, tell me Yugi, does my tightening web make you squirm?" Weevil asked cockily as Yugi drew a card, "Face it Yugi, I have you defeated, and while you're unable to attack me, I can attack any time I want; every turn you waste, my insect army gets bigger and bigger!" He summed a a large mantis-like creature just to prove his point.

Yugi didn't fall for the verbal bait and remained quiet as he drew, but didn't actually play anything. This made Weevil smirk, summoning a giant ant of sorts.

Yugi drew once again. "Keep drawing Yugi, my army of insects just continues to grow!" Weevil said as he summoned a bipedal insect with blades for hands, "And soon, I'll wipe you out in one massive bug blitzkrieg!"

"Stars, he loves to hear himself talk," Liliya commented in a deadpanned voice making Joey snigger, before she noticed the pained look on Akira's face, "Peri, you okay?"

Thankfully, Joey was too busy laughing at her unintentional joke to notice the slip. "Urk...!" Akira pointed down, prompting the sea gem to look at her friend's feet to see Stephanie crushing her toes. Liliya bit back a smirk of amusement.

 _'That's it Weevil, put all your monsters on the field,'_ Yugi thought to himself, _'That's exactly what I'm counting on.'_

"What's got him so confident and sure all of a sudden?" Itzel asked as Stephanie brightened at seeing Weevil's bragging wasn't affecting him. "Well, whenever he duels its like he's become a completely different person,"Joey replied. "Let's just hope he can turn this around or the pipsqueak's done for," Jazmin commented.

"Go Yugi!" Stephanie cheered happily, making Weevil frown at her.

"I'd start worrying about yourself Pinkie," Weevil advised her, "Cause as soon as I squash Yugi, I'm coming after you." The four Gems tensed and glared, while Yugi glared with bared teeth.

"You have to _beat_ Yugi first!" Stephanie retorted sticking her tongue out childishly with a frown, "And stop calling me Pinkie, do I look like a hyper, talking, curly-haired pink pony to you?" Weevil opened his mouth and she pointed at him threateningly, "Don't answer that if you like your head where it is!" Weevil quickly closed his mouth with an audible click, he wasn't the only human who was intimidated by this, save Akira, who yelped at the applied pressure she had put on her toes.

This yelp got Stephanie's attention, "Are you okay Akira?"

"Yeah, I'll be okay," Akira said with a pained, strained voice, "Just as soon as you do one little thing first..."

Stephanie tilted her head, "What?"

Everyone winced as the green-haired girl screamed in pain, "GET YOUR FOOT OF MY TOES!" Stephanie looked down to see she had been crushing her friend's toes and quickly jumped away with a startled, "Whoops!" Akira sighed in relief and held her abused toes as the hybrid gave her a sheepish, yet apologetic smile, "S-Sorry, Akira!" The quick switch of mood made the present humans sweat-drop.

Weevil decided to ignore this and resume goading Yugi, adopting a singing voice, "I'm down to my last monster Yugi, and you know what that means!"

Yugi drew a card and his eyes widened at what it was, _'The Dark Magician, perfect! Weevil can't resist hitting this!'_

"Alright, Weevil, if you want to attack, then so be it," Yugi said placing the card face-down, "I defend with the Dark Magician!"

Stephanie blinked in confusion, "Why did he tell him which mosnter he's playing?" Everyone else just shrugged, also confused.

"it makes no sense, why would..." Jazmin muttered as she thought the tactic over, before realization dawned on, _'Unless...he wants him to attack!'_

"Perfect, I'll destroy your favorite card first!" Weevil grinned not thinking there was something off with Yugi's move, "Now my insect, power up your laser cannon!" Basic Insect charged its cannon on command and locked onto Yugi's face-down, "Fire!"

But suddenly, Yugi laughed, catching Weevil off-guard, "Wha-why are you laughing?"

"Weevil, you aren't the only one who can set traps," Yugi said much to the Bug-Duelist's shock. "What?" He shouted.

"You were so busy grandstanding that you didn't notice me set a trap for you," Yugi explained making Weevil look the upper display that showed Yugi's placed cards and his eyes widened to see one was face-down, but in the spell and trap card zone, not the monster zone. "A trap, b-but I thought they were all monsters!" Weevil gasped. Yugi shook his head at him.

"Not all of them, while you were filling your side with monsters, I set a special surprise for you," Yugi told him revealing his trap card, "And that surprise is my Mirror Force!"

Joey was the only one who noticed how Liliya flinched and her eyes dilating with fear at the word 'mirror', but didn't say anything. It was too early and not the time or place to ask. Instead, he released his fist so he could interlace his fingers with hers and squeezed lightly in comfort, much to her surprise as she looked at their joined hands then at him. He just smiled reassuringly and after a long moment of uncertainty, she returned it with a grateful one.

"No!" Weevil panicked re-gaining the two's attention, "Hold fire!" But was too late as the cannon fired and Yugi's monster revealed itself.

It was a tall human man with fair skin and indigo-colored eyes that were sharp with attention and wisdom, having shoulder-length, shaggy purple hair. He wore a dark purplish-blue robe and purple armor that was a different shade from his hair, the helmet being a distinct cone-like shape that crooked almost like a crescent-moon. He held a tall green staff with a darker jewel wedged into the cone-shaped topper of it. He stood in a kneeling position, back straight, one hand clutching his staff against the ground and the other rested semi-relaxed on his raised knee.

 **Dark Magician. Attribute: DARK. Tribe: SPELLCASTER/NORMAL. Lv: 7. ATK/DEF: 2500/2100**

Just when the laser was about to hit, it rebounded back at Weevil and his monsters. "Too late, Weevil, you already ordered the attack," Yugi stated as the laser hit all five of Weevil's monsters, reducing them to nothing but little bits of data that slowly disappeared, "And my Mirror Force will send it right back at you _and_ your monsters."

"No," Weevil said in shock as his life points dropped, "My life points have been devastated."

 **Weevil LPs: 555**

"Woohoo!" Stephanie cheered jumping up and down from excitement and elation, "Go Yugi!" Yugi smiled at the slightly her child-like silliness, finding it added to her charm.

"Awesome job buddy!" Tristan whooped. "The pipsqueak actually managed to pull it off..." Jazmin commented. Itzel was a little confused by what just happened, but went along with the cheering anyways, "Show that worm who's boss!"

"Yeah!" Joey cheered as well lifting his and Liliya's joined hands in victory, making Liliya smile more genuinely, not minding, "Nice goin' Yug'!"

 _'He obliterated my army of beautiful bugs!'_ Weevil thought angrily as he glared furiously at Yugi, who remained unwaveringly confident and calm, _'How dare he do that to me!'_

"You are a liar and a cheat Weevil, your arrogance and overconfidence in yourself allowed me to the best of you," Yugi stated matter-of-factly and bluntly, "Your insects are decimated and your life points are low as well and you told me yourself, you've used up all your monsters."

This made Weevil laugh before replying, "Actually, I lied about that, too."

This made Stephanie stop cheering as she and Yugi gasped in shock, "What?"

"My most powerful monster is waiting in the wings," Weevil stated making Yugi frown, "And this invincible insect will destroy you once and for all!"

"Awesine okat Yugi!" Tea cheered. "He squashed all those bugs in one move!" Joey grinned happily. "He's got him on the ropes!" Akira added once her toes stopped hurting.

But then a smug sounding laugh came from behind them, prompting them to turn. All four Gems instantly frowned, whilst Stephanie bit the inside of her cheek and pulled down on her hat insecurely.

"Mai?" Joey and Tristan blinked in surprise as the blonde strolled into the clearing.

"You losers don't seem to realize who your friend's up against," Mai said arrogantly but kept a distance at the muscle women's warning looks, "That's Weevil Underwood, the Regional Champion, he's got moves your shrimp of a friend couldn't hope to beat."

Akira's face went red comically with rage and steam actually began to blow out of her ears at the woman's gall, whilst audibly growling, "Mrgrgr!" Liliya, Itzel and Jazmin were settling on just glaring, but all four were thinking the same thing, _'Who in the galaxy does she think she is?'_

Mai then noticed Joey and Liliya were still holding hands, "Who's your girlfriend?"

Joey looked confused until he noticed he was still holding Liliya's hand and he blushed all the way to his ears and down his neck as he quickly let go, much to Liliya's disappointment as he stammered, "S-Sorry!" Tristan and Tea shared an amused glance, especially as Liliya pouted and gave Mai an annoyed look.

"No one asked for your opinion!" The secret sea-gem commented not caring if she sounded rude and Stephanie wisely didn't reprimand her about it, even as she added sharply, "Now make like a snowflake and flutter off!"

Mai seemed just as amused as Tea and Tristan, perhaps more so, even chuckling at the butchered phrase. "And what, miss the chance to see Weevil turn this around and beat Yugi?" Mai asked rhetorically, making Stephanie stare at her, "Yeah right, nice try Mikoyumi."

"It's Mizushima to you!" Liliya fumed full-blown glaring. "Meh," Mai waved her off dismissively andItzel had to, quickly, physically hold Liliya back by the arm-puts with both arms to keep the girl from going AWOL on the blonde and blow their cover. Mai then noticed how the dual-haired girl was staring at her, tilting her curly head this way and that with a thoughtful and confused expression on her face.

"What?" Mai snapped making Stephanie shrug. "Nothin', just wondering where you're hiding you're crystal ball," The fake heiress said gaining even Weevil and Yugi's attention, even the Dark Magician looked over interest.

"What?" Mai repeated this time in surprise. "I said, I was wondering where you were hiding your crystal ball, unless you use tarot cards," Stephanie said, "Because unless you're somehow a seer, you _can't_ predict the future, meaning you _don't_ know if Weevil's going to win or not."

"I-" Mai tried to protest to the disturbingly accurate analysis. "So, if you really want to be here," Stephanie cut her off with surprising sass, "You'll shut up and watch Yugi prove you wrong!"

Liliya, Itzel and Akira looked mildly surprised, but were grinning regardless, whilst Tea and Jazmin were sporting wide, amused grins, Yugi was hiding his own grin whilst disguising his chuckles by trying to cough, a light pink staining his cheeks at her confidence in him, and the other three boys were staring in shock. Even the Dark Magician was amused, mirroring his master by using his friend hand to hide his growing smile, shoulders shaking with silent laughter. Mai looked utterly gobsmacked.

Stephanie's mind seemed to catch up with the last part and she blushed darkly, before trying to hide her face with her hat. In a room with a big screen covering the entire wall, Pegasus and his right hand man, Croquet, had been watching the entire duel with silent interest via a hidden camera. Well, silent until this moment, Pegasus snorterd into his glass of wine and Croquet had to support himself with the table from how funny he found Mai's expression.

You may have destroyed my army Yugi," Weevil said as they refocused on the duel, "But you haven't won yet, I still hot plenty of tricks up my sleeve."

"You're done an awful lot of buzzing," Yugi retorted, "But I'm still waiting for the sting." His friends laughed. "Burn!" Akira shouted grinning.

"Don't think I won't crush you somehow," Weevil commented as he drew, then looked disappointed, "But this monster is too weak to do so," He shrugged, "Oh well, I guess I'll have to put him in defense mode." He placed the card on the field and chuckled.

"Nice play, had I forgotten the trap you had set, anyways," Yugi commented sounding just a tiny bit board and rather unimpressed, "Oh, I'll spring it, but not before I play the Monster Recovery magic card," He played the card and one by one, the glowing squares on his field disappeared, "This allows me to bring all monsters on the field back to my deck and I get to draw a new hand."

The Dark Magician was the last to disappear and Yugi re-shuffled his deck before drawing five new cards. "Now, I sacrifice my weakest monster to spring the trap!" Yugi said summoning a new monster, "Come forth Kuriboh!"

The monster was rather small, about two feet tall, maybe smaller, and resembled a floating brown furball with four green claws, each having three yellow-tinted claws and had big dark eyes. "Kuri! Kuri!" It trilled excitedly at being summoned.

 **Kuriboh. Attribute: DARK. Tribe: FIEND/EFFECT. Lv: 1. ATL/DEF: 300/200**

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKK!" A sudden shrill shriek filled the air causing Kurioh's fur to stand on end like a startled cat's as both duelists nearly threw their cards from shock. Akira jumped into Liliya's arms and both taller Gems were whipping around wildly looking for what made the dual-haired girl scream, whilst the other humans looked at her startled. In the room, Pegasus had been so startled he split wine all over his suit and Croquet dropped the wine bottle in surprise.

"What is it?" Jazmin asked freaked out, "What's wrong?"

But nothing as wrong, as Stephanie squealed, "It's so _CUUUUUUUUUTE!_ " Everyone promptly fell over anime-style, even Pegasus and Croquet. Kuriboh seemed surprised but then looked pleased and if one looked close enough, they could see a blush seep through Kuriboh's fur.

"Hope you can forgive me for this then _Hime_ ," Yugi said mostly to himself as everyone recovered, "Kuriboh attack!"

Remembering the trap, Stephanie shouted, "Wait, no!" But was too late as a tape worm countered Kurihob's launch and destroy the puffball, causing Yugi's life points to drop as she pouted.

 **Yugi LPs: 1050**

The Gems and Yugi's friends smile good-heartedly as Stephanie whined a little in disappointment at the furball's fall. Itzel patted her former leader's daughter's ehad in an attempt to comfort her.

"A trap only works if it surprises you," Yugi lectured Weevil, "Next time, don't shout it out." Surprisingly, Weevil just laughed.

I could give a bee's behind about that trap," Weevil stated, "I just needed it to get you to remove your monsters so I can summon this." He flip summoned a green larvae with a blue pattern on its back and red spines.

 **Larvae Moth. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: INSECT/EFFECT. Lv: 2. ATK/DEF: 500/400**

Despite gaining the power bonus from the forest field, it was still remarkably weak.

 **Larvae Moth. ATK/DEF: 650/520**

Weevil then placed a new card, "And now I play the Cocoon of Evolution!" The larvae became wrapped in a giant sized cocoon of sticky silk that became squishy looking and it had visible veins, as if it were made of muscle. It pulsed with life and it seemed to be covered in spiderwebs.

 **Cocoon of Evolution. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: INSECT/EFFECT. Lv: 3. ATK/DEF: 0/2000**

"Gross!" Tea gagged. "Attractive," Liliya drawled in a sarcastic voice, but shivered at the sight of the cocoon. "That is _disgusting!_ " Akira screeched in disgust, Jazmin and Itzel remained silent, but by their expressions you could tell the cocoon repulsed them as well.

"I told you," Mai said in a 'told you so' type of voice, making the six girls glare at her, "Weevil is going to turn this duel around."

"In five turns Yugi, my Larvae Moth will evolve in the Great Moth," Weevil grinned, "And you can't even scratch it because the Cocoon of Evolution gains defense points due to the field power bonus!" Sure enough, the cocoon's defensive strength grew, yet it's offensive power didn't.

 **Cocoon of Evolution. ATK/DEF: 0/2600**

"Wait, why didn't its attack points increase if it gained the field power bonus?" Itzel asked confused. "My guess is that Pegasus designed the power bonus to work in a mathematical sense," Akira said before Mai could open her mouth, "Basically, the power bonus is a _percentage_ increase instead of a set number and you can't add percent of any number to zero, it cancels the percent out, had this been a field spell like St-Miss Diamonde mentioned, it'd be different." Itzel had an 'o' expression on her face at the end of the explanation.

"I summon Gaia the Fierce Knight!" Yugi shouted summoning a man riding a purple horse that had a dirt blonde mane and tail, wearing a blue and red mast. The man wore matching blue and red armor, and had red lances for hands.

 **Gaia the Fierce Knight. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: WARRIOR. Lv: 7. ATK/DEF: 2300/2100**

"Attack!" Yugi shouted and Gaia charged, trying to pierce the cocoon with one of his lances, but the attack bounced off.

"One turn down, there is _nothing_ that can destroy my cocoon," Weevil said arrogantly, making Jazmin grit her teeth in annoyance, "Admit it, you're finished Yugi!" Yugi bit his tongue as his life points dropped, having hoped Gaia would gain a field power bonus from the wasteland/swamp, but that wasn't the case.

 **Yugi LPs: 750**

"Hang tough Yugi!" Joey encouraged, "You'll pop that puss bag!" Mai suddenly laughed.

"What's so funny?" Tea asked annoyed. "You idiots are cheering like he has a chance to win," Mai replied arrogantly.

Something inside Akira snapped as she stomped over to Mai as she said, "Of course he does!" Without warning, she slapped Mai, hard, much to everyone's shock, "I seem to recall Miss Diamonde telling you unless you have a magic ball or pieces of paper that predict the future, its either shut up or shoo!" That said, she stomped back over to stand next to Stephanie.

"Not... _exactly_ what I said," Stephanie commented with a sweat drop, deciding not to bother telling her what she had done was rude or to apologize, since she had a good idea the technician wouldn't care or listen.

On her other side, Liliya snortered, "Similar context." Stephanie just sighed and shrugged in defeat.

"Just four more turns Yugi," Weevil said, "Then you'll be defeated."

 _'Maybe I should play a defense,'_ Yugi thought in caution, considering his options, _'Just in case I can't stop whatever it is.'_ He played a monster face-down.

"Play defense all you want," Weevil laughed, "It won't save you from my monster!" The cocoon pulsed and bulged as if on cue, making Liliya and Akira look a bit grossed out by the sight, Tea looked as if she was going to be sick.

"Yugi, you've got to win this for your grandpa!" Joey called up to his friend, catching Stephanie's interest. _'Yugi's dueling for family too?'_ She thought in surprise, _'Did Pegasus do the same thing to him that he did to me?'_ She looked up at the tri-haired teen with a new light in her eyes.

Yugi's eyes hardened as he replied, "I know."

"Then don't let this guy push ya around!" Joey told him confidently, "Time tah barbecue that bug and win this thing!"

Yugi gasped as an idea hit him at those words, _'Barbecue! That's it!'_ He then gave Joey a thumbs up and a nod, which the blonde returned. The exchange made Stephanie smile, for some reason it reminded her of herself and Amethyst.

"Like my friend said, time to turn up the heat!" Yugi declared as summoned a new monster, "Go Curse of Dragon!" This new creature was a dragon as the name suggest, but it was yellow in color with red patterns, bat-like wings was legless and had what loosely resembled a scorpion's tail.

 **Curse of Dragon. Attribute: DARK. Tribe: DRAGON. Lv: 5. ATK/DEF: 2000/1500**

"Mext I will combine it with the Burning Land card," Yugi said as played a spell card, "Attack!" His dragon was engulfed in light before it blew a stream of fire, setting the forest side of the field ablaze.

"Now _that's_ graphics," Akira commented. "Not to mention clever," Jazmin added with a smirk, "By attacking the field, the worm loses his advantage."

"Not the forest!" Weevil shouted just realizing that for himself, "Without the forest I lose the field power bonus!" Sure enough, his cocoon's defense fell back to its original number.

 **Cocoon of Evolution. ATK/DEF: 0/2000**

"That's right Weevil," Yugi grinned as the forest field was reduced to a barren wasteland, "Now Gaia, attack the cocoon once more!" His knight charged the cocoon and this time pierced the cocoon with one of his lances causing it to explode in a slimy, gooey mess of thick pink and white substance.

"He did it!" Joey and Stephanie cheered. Tristan whooped, "Popped it like a zit!" Mai just stared, stunned.

Itzel stopped cheering to look at him confused, "What's a zit?"

"Yuck..." Tea deadpanned. Liliya shivered in disgust and Akira violently gagged. "It's not over yet," Jazmin stated to their surprise, so imagine their shock when the creature moved, clearly still alive.

"Fool, you only stopped his evolution by a turn," Weevil shouted, "But he's still powerful enough to defeat you, Great Moth arise!"

With a powerful beat of large wings, Weevil's new monster lifted itself from the cocoon's remains, revealing itself to be a giant, yellowish-green moth. Its wings were a slightly darker green with yellowish-green patterns that included a red and yellow eye-like symbol in each corner of the wings, orange horns on its head and a normal grayish, claw-like one on its forehead.

 **Great Moth. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: INSECT/EFFECT. Lv: 8. ATK/DEF: 2600/2500**

"Very well," Yugi said unwilling to let the new monster faze him, "Let's settle this in the skies!" Curse of Dragon rose to meet with Weevil's moth.

"You want a dogfight, fine!" Weevil shouted, "Great Moth attack! Hurricane Blast!" Great Moth flapped its wings, whipping up hurricane-like winds that engulfed Yugi's face-down monster and destroyed it.

"No, my beaver!" Yugi cried before quickly playing a card just as the winds began to engulf Gaia. "Its over Yugi!" Weevil grinned, "You've lost!"

Stephanie's eyes widened in shocked-alarm, "Yugi!"

"Are you sure about that?" Yugi asked as the winds died down to reveal Gaia's horse was gone and the knight was now atop Curse of Dragon, "Behold Gaia the Dragon Champion!"

 **Gaia the Dragon Champion. Attribute: WIND. Tribe: DRAGON/FUSION. Lv: 7. ATK/DEF: 2600/2100**

The Gems could only stare at the newly fused monsters in shock, stars in Stephanie's eyes. "Is that..." Itzel trailed off, stunned. "Fusion..." Stephanie breathed.

But then, Weevil started to chuckle, prompting Yugi to arch an eyebrow, "What's so funny Weevil?"

"Your monster doesn't look so good," Weevil answered and Yugi looked at his monster and gasped when he saw its attack points dropping mysteriously. "What? How?" Yugi gasped in shock.

"Poison, you fool, whenever my Great Moth attacks it leaves a poisonous wapor onthe field," Weevil explained which made Yugi nervous, "Your monster is losing attacks points faster than you can fix it!" Yugi shook his head.

"I can't lose, my grandfather cherishes Exodia too dearly," Yugi said before drawing and smirked, "I play the magic card Makiou the Magical Rainstorm." It began to rain the field, soaking both monsters to the bone and washing away the poison.

"You might've washed the poison away, but you still won't win!" Weevil shouted, "Great Moth attack with Tornado of Doom!" Once again, his moth conjured strong winds but this time it was mixed with lightning, obliterating Yugi's Champion and lowering his life points, making Stephanie gasp in worry.

 **Yugi LPs: 50**

Imagine everyone's surprise when Yugi grinned and started to laugh. "What's so funny?" Weevil demanded.

"Weevil, you are about to lose this duel," Yugi stated matter-of-factly, "I know its hard for you to lose as you've spent so much time coming up with ways to cheat."

"No, you're lying!" Weevil shouted but Yugi shook his head, completely serious. "No, I'm not," Yugi replied eyes cold as ice, "You lost the moment you threatened _Hime_ ," Joey, Tristan, Itzel and Liliya all looked confused as Tea, Akira and Jazmin all smirked knowingly at Stephanie, who blushed, "Now witness your downfall, because I summon..."

A void appeared on the field and Yugi's new monster slowly rose from within it as he called out its name, "The Summoned Skull!"

Like Mammoth Graveyard, Summoned Skull was an animated skeleton, but unlike Mammoth Graveyard, it was humanoid whilst maintaining a demonic grotesque with its horns, bat-like wings and glowing red eyes. It had purple and red muscles between its bones, adding to its creepy appearance. All in all, it really did look like something that came out of hell. It gave a combination of a hiss and a throaty growl.

 **Summoned Skull. Attribute: DARK. Tribe: FIEND/NORMAL. Lv: 6. ATK/DEF: 2500/1200**

It succeeded in creeping Akira out as she complained, " _Another_ skeleton...!"

But Stephanie once again had stars in her eyes as squealed, this time more controlled, "So... _cool!_ " Imagine Yugi's amusement when the bones of Summoned Skull's cheeks reddened noticeably at Stephanie's compliment.

 _'His monster is strong but not strong enough to defeat my moth,'_ Weevil mentally assured himself but gasped at noticing his monster was still dripping with water, "My moth is still wet!"

"That's right and my monster attacks with electricity, so you're Great Moth is nothing more than a giant lightening rod," Yugi told him to Weevil's horror, "And if I recall correctly, the Wasteland field has expanded and its still perfect for giving _undead_ monsters its power bonus." Weevil began to sweat as Summoned Skull's power increased.

 **Summoned Skull. ATK/DEF: 3250/1560**

Yugi then shouted, "Attack!"

The Gems and the little hybrid once again flinched as Summoned Skull lit up with an electrical aura, eerily similar to Yellow Diamond's aura, before firing a massive bolt of lightning, destroying Great Moth and Yugi said simply, "It's over, I have won." Weevil dropped to his knees, expression akin to an empty stare of shock and disbelief as his Life Points drops one more time.

 **Weevil LPs: 0**

"He did it!" Stephanie cheered.

"YEAH, GO YUGI!" Tristan whooped with a wide grin yelping a little when an over-excited Itzel picked him up with startling ease and strength by the waist with one arm as she cheered as well. "He won!" Joey cheered as well pulling Liliya into a celebratory hug, "Yugi won!" Liliya just smiled and hugged him back, cheeks reddening as she enjoyed his warmth.

"Impressive," Mai admitted, "I had no clue he could actually win against Weevil." She then walked away as the others rushed congratulate Yugi, save Jazmin, who went over and grabbed Weevil, who tried to run upon seeing her approach, Star Chips and all.

"I am Champion!" Weevil protested struggling in vain, "I am the Regional Champion!"

"You're only champion because you lied and cheated your way there," Yugi stated standing before the dangling duelist, frowning as he took the Star Chips he won, "A true Champion duels with honor." He then placed the Star Chips into his gauntlet.

"Don't waste your time Yug', he isn't gonna get it," Joey advised before taking Weevil's Duel Glove, "Guess I can take this, seein' how he's got no use fer it now." He slipped it on and placed his sole Star Chip into it.

"Seven more left," Yugi said gazing at his new Star Chips. "I need eight," Stephanie said nervously also looking at hers, "I'm really nervous about dueling now." But when she felt a hand on her shoulder, she looked up at Joey, who was giving her an encouraging smile.

"You'll do fine Diamonde," Joey assured her, "Ya got backin' yeah up now."

Stephanie gave a little smile in return along with a tiny nod, before telling him, "Call me Pink." She held up a fist, which made Joey grin before he gently pressed his against hers, remembering her 'bruise easily' condition, which made their friends smile a little, save one.

"Err..." Akira winced upon noticing that Jazmin was too busy glaring at a very pale and panicked look Weevil to notice the touching moment, she informed, "Jazmin...you can put him down now."

Jazmin suddenly smirked wickedly and replied simply, "Okay." She then brought the arm holding up Weevil back, as if getting ready to pitch a baseball, then swung, throwing Weevil into the air, screaming, making everyone pale as disappeared beyond the tree-tops.

"Yamazaki!" Akira and Liliya scolded once the screams got distant. "What?" Jazmin shrugged not at all remorseful that the fall could potentially badly harm Weevil should he hit the ground the wrong way, "He had it coming!"

"Let's just got..." Stephanie suggested not wanting to be around should security show up to investigate the screams. She took Yugi by the arm and began to lead the way in a seemingly random direction, which Yugi just smiled in amusement, not at all minding and allowed her to pull him along.

Quickly picking up the suitcase where she had dropped it, Liliya quickly followed, Akira and Itzel right behind her, followed by Tea, Joey and Tristan, Jazmin jogging lightly to resume her place behind Stephanie.

Joey was quick to hurry up to his friend's side as he asked with a teasing air in his voice, "So, Yug', who's this _Hime_ that Underwood threatened?" Both Yugi and Stephanie spluttered and blushed, Stephanie more so than Yugi, who didn't reply.

"Yeah," Tristan asked in amusement as he picked up pace to walk beside Stephanie, a mock inquring look on his face, "Since when did you start playing 'knight in shining armor'?"

Everyone laughed, the incident with Weevil becoming memory.

0000000000000000

In the castle, Pegasus hadn't left his spot from watching Yugi's duel with Weevil, meaning he had also watched the aftermath and chuckled, "So the Puzzle and Earrings have joined up, what a...exhilaratingly unexpected twist."

To the side, a distance from him, Amethyst glared at him venomously, a strangely dark blue collar that appeared to be made out of crystal was fashioned around her neck, its connecting chain seemed to literally disappear into her gemstone, which rippled with a pale lilac light where the link connected with its storage-ability. The only thing keeping her from attacking the weird and creepy human was energy she could feel humming inside the collar.

Beside her, on a velvet, turquoise-colored cushion laid Pearl's gemstone and next to it was Ruby's, which laid on a black one, both having been poofed. Sapphire sat next to her partner's gemstone, an icy air around her as she leaned towards the red gem protectively, a matching green color on her own neck, connecting similarly to her own gemstone, her face having its usual calm expression despite the situation as she told her fellow gem, "I told you he'd win."

"Just you wait you weirdo!" Amethyst glared at Pegasus, "When Steph gets here, she's gonna-!" She quickly stopped herself when Pegasus held up what looked like a remote made of dark crystal.

"Oh trust me, I'm counting on her getting here," Pegasus spoke calmly despite Amethyst's rude tone, "This change just makes things more convenient for me."

"Convenient," Sapphire mused aloud, voice oddly soft given her predicament, "Convenient in gaining what? Two little pieces of jewelry that could be easily replicated."

"Yeah, what's up with that?" Amethyst added, "All this for what? Blacking mailing two kids for little trinkets you could probably get anywhere?"

"Oh, little gems, its about so much more than just the puzzle and earrings themselves," Pegasus chuckled again, as if speaking to small children, "It's what's _in_ them that makes all this truly worth while."

"In them?" Amethyst asked skeptically, "What the hell could be inside solid gold-" Her tirade was cut off when Pegasus pressed the purple button on the remote, her collar lit up with bright green electricity, which lit up the rest of her purple form, making her scream in pain, "AAAAAAAAHHH!" Until she was forced to retreat into her gemstone, which landed on a lilac purple velvet cushion, which made Sapphire wince.

Pegasus just tsked idly, "Such a mouth on an otherwise cute little thing." Sapphire's mouth twisted into a tight frown for a few seconds before it resumed its previous laxness.

"What can you possibly hope to gain?" Sapphire asked and you could hear her trying hard to keep her voice controlled and calm. Pegasus smirked at her, "What I gain...? Hmm...now that would be telling right now, wouldn't it?" Sapphire softly growled before glancing at the screen, watching helpless as her little Stephanie walked arm-in-arm with the taller human, none the wiser to Pegasus' surveillance.

 _'Rose,'_ Sapphire prayed desperately, _'If you're still in there somewhere, please, keep our little girl save. Please...'_

* * *

 **Oh man, I did not really plan that last part, what did I just give Pegasus?! Aw well...**

 **Let me know what you guys think of this, personally, I'm having a lot of fun!**

 **Oh and for those who aren't in the basic Japanese know-how, and mostly because I forgot to mention this in the previous chapter, _Hime_ means Princess, which, if you really think about, kinda fits Stephanie at the end of the day. Diamonds and all.**

 **Anyways, please review and be completely honest with me and have a very Merry Christmas! I don't know where my fics would be without you guys!**

 **Till the next chapter!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own YuGiOh nor their original characters nor do I own Steven Universe and any of its original characters, cause if I did, Rose would've found a way to be able to exist at the same time with Steven! But a girl can dream.**

 **I hope you guys are having a wonderful Merry Christmas! I know I am!**

 **foxchick1: Stephanie will tell her new friends the truth eventually, before they enter the castle for the finals, just not exactly on her own terms.**

 **suntan140: Merry Christmas to you as well, hope everything is going great for you and I will have Stephanie duel Mai at some point, just not sure when, possibly the finals or in Joey's place to uncover her tricks.**

 **Well, with the replies out of the way, let's continue on, shall we?**

* * *

In his observation room, as Sapphire continued to watch over her team-mates as they rejuvenated, Pegasus watched through several different hidden cameras as the duelists he had invited continued to duel and gamble Star Chips. He chuckled in amusement at every lose and win.

 _'The duels have begun and by now the weaker duelists are being separated from the strong,'_ Pegasus thought leaning back in his chair as he held a glass of wine, _'I wonder if little Yugi and Stephanie will make it to my castle, it would be a real shame for either of them to come so close to saving their families only to fail now.'_

000000000000000

Meanwhile, the two duelists on Pegasus' mind were walking through the trails of the woods with the Gems-turned-Humans and the Japanese students. Joey was continuing to lightly tease Yugi about calling Stephanie _hime_. All three duelists were smiling with excitement for the next duel.

"Alright, time tah find me someone tah duel and win me some Star Chips!" Joey grinned excitedly after deciding enough was enough with the teasing, much to Yugi's relief. "Easy there Joey, you're still new to all this remember?" Yugi reminded him.

"You're new to Duel Monster too?" Stephanie asked in surprise, making them blink. "Too?" Tristan asked back in just as much surprise, "Hey, just how long have you been dueling?"

"She literally just played her first duel the day before yesterday," Liliya answered eyes darkening at the memory, or really, the memory of the aftermath, "When _Pegasus_ ," She spat the man's name out as if it were poisonous to her tongue, "Invited her."

Itzel snorted under her breath, "More like black-mailed."

"Seriously?" Tea asked as she and her friends gaped in shock. "But I've been watching my friends duel for the last two and a half years," Stephanie said to try and ease them, "So, I'm not going into this completely blind."

"Maybe, but watchin' and actually duelin' are two different things," Joey pointed out. "Plus, it doesn't mean you shouldn't be careful Pink," Yugi added in concern, "I mean, you're fatigue."

Tea nodded, "And you're bone deficiency."

"I know," Stephanie acknowledged the part she had to play, "Doesn't mean I can't be excited for my first _real_ duel." With that said, she walked ahead of them, flanked by Itzel and Jazmin.

Yugi looked at Akira and Liliya curiously, "Aren't you two worried?"

"Of course," Akira replied, "But Miss Diamonde is such an unpredictable ball of sunshine and positive energy, it'd be a crime to try and restrict her," She then smirked knowingly, "Besides, she'd just do it anyways."

The human teens shared an unsure look.

"Remember that story Pearl told us?" Liliya chuckled, "About how she went out in the middle of blizzard to get that boy, Lars, a Christmas present after the first one got ruined?"

Akira snorted as Yugi frowned at the story, "Oh, I remember, how about the one where she nearly gave poor Pearl a heart-attack by going to Connie's birthday party despite having been in a wheel-chair at the time?" The teens looked a bit freaked out to hear she had been in a wheel-chair, but at the same time, Yugi had to smile at how far the girl was willing to go for her friends.

Noticing their expressions, Liliya said, "If it helps, I got a month's worth of Miss Diamonde's medication right here," She leaned down to pat the bulging pocket in the front of the suitcase, "If anything happens, she'll be fine." Of course, the 'medication' was just water pills, perfectly harmless for a perfectly healthy girl to take, if anything, it would keep her from getting dehydrated.

This seemed to ease them, unaware of the farce. "Guys!" Stephanie called excited from the edge of a cliff, Itzel and Jazmin just in arms reach if something happened, "You have to come check out this view! Its beautiful!"

"She's seriously checking out the scenery," Tea said in disbelief as Yugi lightly jogged up to join her.

But Stephanie never noticed as she stared out over the ocean, watching the water seem to twinkle under the clear sky and sunlight. Being from Beach City and actually living on a beach, she was well-used to this sort of view, especially from a vantage point like Brooding Hill, and this was no different, if anything it made her feel a little homesick as her mind steeled with the memories of her family and the ever present reminder of her situation.

 _'I have to get into the finals, not just for dad's sake, but Amethyst, Pearl and Garnet's sakes too, and Sapphire and Ruby's sakes too,'_ She thought lips pursed and she sub-consciously clenched her fists, _'Ever since I was little they've always been looking after me...'_ Memories of the Crystal Gems played out in her mind's eye.

 _(Amethyst Memory)_

 _A little five-year-old Stephanie was hiding behind a bush, wearing a pretty pink sundress that had a flower-shaped cut-out at the navel to frame her gemstone, had her knees drawn and was silently crying. She rubbed her eyes after a moment before pulling apart the bush leaves, watching a group of kids playing ball, laughing happily._

 _"Hey Steph!" A voice chirped cheerily and loud from behind her, making her yelp and spin around to see Amethyst._

 _She calmed down and looked down, Amethyst immediately caught on to her downtrodden mood and crawled closer but hovered inches away, remembering what Greg and Pearl had said about personal space, and asked, "Hey, what's wrong kiddo?"_

 _"Nothing!" Stephanie forced her usual smile. "Then why are you hiding back here?" Amethyst prodded not convinced, "Why aren't you out there with the other kids? That's what you do at a park, right?"_

 _Stephanie flinched at the questions and looked away._

 _"Did something happen?" Amethyst asked. "N-No...not really..." Stephanie answered, "It's just...they...they didn't want to play with someone with a weird gem on their belly..." She ghosted her fingers over her mother's gemstone as she said this, tears prickling her eyes._

 _"What?" Amethyst asked in disbelief, "Why wouldn't they want to play with you? Having Rose's gem makes you awesome!"_

 _"But other kids don't have a gemstone..." Stephanie pointed out. "So what?" Amethyst asked, "It makes them the weird ones, in my opinion!"_

 _"Amy!" Stephanie said half-frowning, half-smiling, rubbing at her eyes again. "What? I'm telling the truth!" Amethyst shrugged, "Believe me, Steph, having that gemstone doesn't make you weird, even if you can't use it yet, it just means you're apart of our family and that's the important thing, okay?"_

 _Stephanie stared at her adopted sister for a moment before a smile grew across her face as she nodded._

 _Amethyst smiled, "Good, now c'mon, if those losers don't wanna play with the prettiest human here, then I guess I will!"_

 _Stephanie burst out giggling as she allowed the taller girl to help her to her feet. But when Amethyst started to pull her along, Stephanie dug her feet and said, "Amy?" The purple girl looked at her with a hum, only to be startled when the little girl hugged her tight, "Thank you, Big Sis...!"_

 _Amethyst was now the one with tears in her eyes as she returned the hug as she replied, "A-A-Anytime...Little Sis..."_

 _(Garnet Memory)_

 _Stephanie, still five, was standing to the side, wearing a fancy white dress with a pink sash and puffy-princess shoulders, clutching a prettily wrapped present in blue paper and a green ribbon. She looked at the party Lars was throwing for his eighth birthday with uncertainty and nervousness, then down at her present, which was the new third addition to the Jaws movies, which she new Lars really wanted to see._

 _But she was nervous, because she was scared of what Lars would do and say when he received it from **her**. She knew not a lot of kids liked her for her strange gemstone and her equally odd family, but she really liked Lars and was really hoping he would become her first friend, especially after she got the invitation. But not she wasn't so sure, especially after seeing his parents give him the new Piranhas 3D movie._

 _"Steph..." A voice said as a shadow fell over making her turn as Garnet knelt down, "What's wrong? Don't you want to give Lars his present?"_

 _"I do..." Stephanie said looking back over her shoulder as Lars laughed at something a friend said, "What if...what if he doesn't like what I dot him?" Her eyes watered at the idea of Lars hating her present._

 _She felt a finger gently press under her chin making her look up into Garnet's shaded gaze as the tall woman smiled gently at her, "I promise, he's going to love it Steph, trust me."_

 _Stephanie smiled a little and nodded, before hugging Garnet, who smiled as well._

 _(Pearl Memory)_

 _Stephanie, now eight, was sitting in her bedroom, sobbing quietly at her scrapped up knees. Scrapped from her trying to prove to the Gems she could be a big girl by climbing the temple-statue, just to fall before she could get all that high up._

 _"Oh my poor baby," Pearl sighed as she sat next to her, summoning medical supplies from her gemstone, "What on Earth were you thinking Stephanie? You could have been seriously hurt or worse."_

 _"I know," Stephanie said sadly. "Then what possessed you to do such a horrible idea?" Pearl pressed._

 _"You're always saying how I'm too small to do anything and how Mommy was so amazing and did all kinds of cool things!" Stephanie explained crossing her arms, "I can do cool things too!"_

 _Pearl blinked in surprise before giving a little smile, "I know you can, but to be fair, you're mother was much...older and bigger than you are right now," Pearl carefully bandaged her scraps, "All that will change, you'll see."_

 _"But when?" Stephanie pouted. Pearl chuckled, "Soon, Steph, just give it time," She then kissed the little girl's forehead tenderly, "Until then, enjoy being you, because you're perfect just as you are," Stephanie smiled as she hugged Pearl around the waist, nuzzling her cheek into the soft material of the older Gem's top as Pearl smiled and petted her hair, "My beautiful Quartz."_

 _(Memory End)_

Stephanie opened her eyes (wondering when she closed them) when cheering brought her out of her ravine. Everyone turned to see several arenas, which were in use as little groups of duelists watched the different duels going on.

"Duel Arenas..." Akira gasped in awe, "There's so many..."

"You said it!" Joey exclaimed in excitement, "Alright, let's find someone tah duel!" He, without realizing it, grabbed Liliya by the hand and started to pull her along as he headed down the little hill they were on towards the arenas, not that the blue-haired 'nurse' minded.

"You realize that if you lose you'll be giving up your only Star Chip, right?" Tristan pointed out as the rest of them followed. "I was tryin' not tah think about that actually," Joey admitted stopping to look at his sole Star Chip, never noticing Liliya shoot the brunette male a dirty look, to which he responded by lifting his hands up in surrender.

"You can do this Joey," Tea reassured the blonde, "You just have to stay away from the all the stronger duelists for now."

"Yeah, not everyone here is a pro," Stephanie added practically skipping next to Yugi, who nodded in agreement to her words. "Yeah, all you need to do is find a field that your monsters work best with," Yugi advised.

"A field mah monstahs work best in, eh?" Joey mused as he paused and let go of Liliya's hand to look through his deck so he could study his monster cards, much to the other girls' amusements as Liliya pouted at the loss, again, not that the blonde noticed, "Well, most of 'em are Warriors, so, they'd be powered up by the meadow field."

"That's right Joey," Stephanie praised, "So all you got to do is focus on fields with at least some amount of meadow on them," She then sighed, "Just hope mine with be as easy."

"What do you mean?" Itzel asked her confused. "Well, most of my monsters are Beasts and I have no clue what field works best for Beast-types," Stephanie replied trying to recall the different field-spells Pegasus most likely based his arena-fields off of and guess from there, "It be easier if I had a deck like yours, Dragons are powered by Mountains, or even a deck built around an attribute like Liliya's water deck, then all I'd have to do is find a field based on the sea or has a lake."

"You guys duel?" Tea asked the other women in surprise. "No," Jazmin stated bluntly, much to their confusion.

"The same person who sent S-Miss Diamonde the earrings sent us our decks," Akira explained taking out her own deck from the holster strapped to her arm, looking a bit lost herself, "Said we might need them in the future."

Liliya, Jazmin and Itzel took out their own decks from similar holsters. Liliya's was strapped to her arm opposite to the one Akira had strapped hers on, Jazmin's was on her right thigh and Itzel wore hers on her belt.

Tristan blinked at the information, "Weird." Yugi and Stephanie shrugged at this, both having seen and heard weirder.

"I think Beasts would work best in Forests," Yugi said after thinking about it, having seen a lot of field spells himself when his grandpa had gotten a bunch shipped in once, "Like the one Weevil used," He then cringed remembering the state he had left said field in and mentally hopped the arenas acted as computer hard-drives and rebooted the field as if nothing had happened, "Let's just hope their are others."

As if guessing what he was thinking about Stephanie winced and looked a bit nervous. But then, a familiar voice rang out, making Jazmin growl, "You lost cry-baby, now give me your Star Chips!"

No one noticed Stephanie stiffen as her eyes widened behind her sunglasses, a new memory playing in her mind:

 _(Flashback)_

 _"Alright crybaby!" An eight-year-old boy taunted as he and his friend cornered a crying four-year-old Stephanie, who was hugging her stuffed lion tight, "Hand over the lion!"_

 _(Flashback Ends)_

And again, no one noticed Stephanie's shoulders shaking oh so slightly as her fists clenched with suppressed anger. But the Gems did feel the emotion itself tricking off her and they shot her looks of confused concern.

"That's Mai," Tea said with a frown. "What is she up to now?" Liliya added also frowning as they walked over to where Mai was taking another duelist's Star Chips.

"It's not far!" The duelist said tears starting to fall, "How could you see your cards when they were all face-down?"

"I'm psychic," Mai answered with a wink, "And you're toast." The boy ran off as Mai turned her attention to the two now merged groups and smirked knowingly.

"I see you've already won two more Star Chips," Akira commented making the blonde nod. "And you're psychic now," Tea added in disbelief, "Do you use it to tell you when a shoe sale is on?" Stephanie, being the only other female who caught onto the joke, snorted quietly as the Gems shared a confused glance as Joey and Tristan snickered along.

"Wouldn't you like to know," Mai answered before turning her attention to Yugi, half-lidding her eyes in an attractive stare as she cooed, "So, how are your duels coming along Yugi?" It succeeded in making Yugi blush whilst at the same time slightly uncomfortable, having never been on the receiving end of such attention before. It also made Tea growl and Stephanie pout.

Oblivious to the other two girls, Yugi answered still red-faced, "You saw my duel with Weevil."

"Believe me, very impressive," Mai assured him before smirking again, "In fact, I think I'm in the mood for another duel."

"Pipsqueak," Jazmin suddenly rumbled making everyone jump as Yugi had to crane his neck almost painfully to look at the tall woman's face, "Kick her out of this tournament."

"Actually chickie," Mai interrupted making Jazmin glare as the shorter two Gems stared at her as if she lost her head, "I pick who I duel," She then held out her finger as if she was going to point at Yugi or Joey, "And I chose...Diamonde." She turned her arm to point at the pink-clad girl, who blinked.

"Me?" Stephanie asked in surprise. "Yeah you, are you hard of hearing?" Mai asked making the four older Gems glare at her as Stephanie flinched back in response, "I know a newbie when I see one and my motto is take out the weakest duelists first and they don't any more amateur than you."

Surprisingly, Stephanie said nothing. Rather, she lowered her face, bangs and the brim of her hat shadowing a majority of her expression. The only thing you could really see was how tight she had pressed her lips together as yet another memory played in her head, but it didn't...feel like hers:

 _(Memory, Stephanie's 3rd POV)_

 _"When are you going to see that I'm ready?" She found herself saying staring up at Blue Diamond, a strange burning sensation she could describe as frustration and hurt in her chest, feeling her face being fixed in a scowl._

 _"When you start acting like a proper Diamond," Blue responded, "Instead of a newly emerged, clueless pebble. Because right now, that's all we see Pink, someone who has no idea what they're doing."_

 _(Memory Ends.)_

From the observation room, Pegasus had turned his gaze from the screen to watch in mild amusement as Sapphire, in her rage at Mai's words, started to freeze the ground around her, including the pillow she was on for when she was poofed by his collars. Crochet rushed off to get something for the ice as Pegasus resumed watching the scene unfold.

"Mrgrgr...that's what your think!" Akira snapped looking ready to slap the blonde again, "My Dia-" Liliya quickly smacked her upside the head making her realize what she nearly said and corrected herself, "Miss Diamonde is going to kick your sorry ass you blonde bimbo!" Akira then crossed her arms, proud of herself for remembering that particular insult from Camp Pining Hearts which made Liliya smirk and snort, which Joey found adorable.

"I'm not certain, but I'm pretty sure you're blonde too," Mai retorted with a calm smirk, "So, are you talking about yourself?" Akira blinked at this, letting the words bounce around in her head for a moment before glaring as the insult registered.

"THAT DOES IT!" Akira shouted about to pounce by thankfully(and surprisingly) Jazmin stopped her by picking her up by the collar as the green-shortie kicked her legs about as if she were running and flailed her arms about in anger, "LET ME AT HER, LET ME AT HER, LET ME AT HER! OI! DON'T HOLD ME BACK!"

Mai wasn't the only one who sweat-dropped at this.

"Someone's cranky," Mai commented smirking, "You should really keep your employees on a tighter leash, Diamonde."

Something inside of Stephanie snapped as her hands clenched and once again shook, but this time, a lot more noticeable, at being compared, however unintentional, to the Diamonds at being told to keep Akira under control, as if she were an object she owned. Once again, a memory that wasn't hers flashed through her head:

 _(Memory, Stephanie's 3rd POV)_

 _"When are you going to keep these Gems in proper order Pink!" Yellow Diamond scolded as a group of Amethysts cowered before the giant, "A Diamond that can't control her own court is no Diamond at all!"_

 _(Memory Ends)_

The wind knocked her hat off as she snapped it back up to look at Mai with an enraged snap as her earrings and gemstone once again glowed in unison, catching everyone off guard, "THAT IS ENOUGH MAI!" And just like before, the white and pink lights emerged together into a light pink one which enveloped her as she yelled out, "DAIYAMONDORAITO!"

The Gems could only stare in shock as the light slowly died down, along with Yugi and the others as Stephanie tilted her head back to let her now slightly longer and fluffier hair flutter in the wind. Sparkles seemed to drift of her as she lolled her head forward as she felt the strange sensation of the transformation run its course. She was tall once again, but was shorter than Yugi when he had changed coming to that form's chin. This time, her outfit had been altered to fit her new frame and a small breeze threatened to expose her gemstone, but thankfully, no one was paying it any heed as her flower-shaped cheek-marks and Eye of Horus mark slowly faded.

"Whoa..." Joey managed to gasp in shock. "How did she...?" Mai asked flabbergasted.

When the sensation was done, Stephanie reached up and removed her sunglasses and, with her eyes closed, silently handed them to Akira as Yugi caught her hat as it floated down. A second or two later, she opened her eyes to reveal them to once again be a deep magenta pink color and she as she spoke, her voice had once again changed and it sent a shiver down everyone's spines with how different it was, "Alright Mai, let's duel." Mai nodded and they both walked to an arena, Mai taking the red platform and Stephanie taking the blue one.

The Gems stared after her in utter shock. "How did she-?" Akira breathed in shock. "I thought she couldn't..." Liliya muttered gobsmacked, but wondered, _'Is that what happened to Yugi.'_ She glanced at the boy and almost laughed out loud at the utter entrancement on the boy's reddening face as he stared at the now taller girl.

"Wow..." Was all Yugi could say. The spirit of the puzzle wasn't any better, there was just something just painstakingly familiar about the girl, especially now with that strange energy now more potent than before and all he could say, which, thankfully only Yugi could hear, was, "Hello..."

"Kick her butt Pinkamena!" Tea cheered. "Yeah!" Akira agreed snapping out of it, "Show that blonde who's boss!" Stephanie glanced over and the four Gems shivered at the new color of her eyes, the taller of the two finding them strangely familiar, their new coldness made them wonder if that was still their Steph, when her lips quirked into a tiny smile and her eyes warmed as she nodded at them.

Stephanie then turned her attention to the field, eyes turning cold again as she regarded the terrain. Most of it was a mountain range, which covered majorly Mai's side of the field, the peeks seemed to be dusted very lightly with snow, but was otherwise barren, while the majority of her side of the field was a forest and the other portion was a meadow, the line where the two met being dotted with trees to provide a board of sorts. She had to give Pegasus points for creativity, not even most video-game graphics were this good.

"The field we'll be playing on is forty percent mountains, forty percent forest and twenty percent meadow," Mai explained, "Can you hand this type of field?" She then removed one of her Star Chips, "Since you only have the two, I'll play nice and only make the stakes one Star Chip each." She placed on the Star Chip the edge of the duel-simulator.

Stephanie didn't hesitate to answer, "Very well," She then set it down, along with her deck, she then regarded the field once more, _'With almost half the field being a forest I should get the field power bonus for my Beasts even if they end up on the meadow...assuming Beasts get a power bonus from the forest field,'_ She glanced up at Mai, who seemed rather confident despite being mildly off-put by the change in both Stephanie's appearance and personality, _'I'll bet Mai deliberately picked to stay near this field, just like Weevil did by luring Yugi to that other one so he could power his bugs, she's relying on the mountains.'_

Liliya, Jazmin, Itzel and Akira were having similar thoughts, while glad the stakes weren't both Stephanie's Star Chips, were worried for what losing this duel could do to the girl's confidence. "She'll be fine," Joey assured mostly Liliya, placing a comforting hand on the blue-haired girl's shoulder, earning a grateful smile as Tea offered similar comfort to Jazmin and Akira, and Tristan to Itzel, which was also appreciated to an extent.

Yugi shook himself out of his daze and nodded in agreement to Joey's words, "Of course she will."

"She will," Itzel said more firmly with absolute faith, "She has her deck and her mother's wit, there's no way she can lose." Jazmin nodded in agreement silently.

"I wouldn't break out the champagne yet Rainbow Brash," Mai remarked, "Diamonde hasn't faced someone like me before."

Instead of getting mad or mad on Itzel's behalf, the four disguised space rocks just looked lost on the insult, which the humans didn't miss. Tristan and Tea just shrugged not willing to risk what would happen if they explained it, whilst Yugi and Joey silently motioned for the four to forget what the blonde female had said.

"Before we start Mai, there's something I want to ask you," Stephanie suddenly said making everyone blink and look at her, "All I want to know is...why do you duel? Why compete in this tournament at all?"

"For the prize money of course, with it I can buy all the comforts I crave," Mai answered simply before beginning to gush like the classic girl with starry eyes as she listed, "Designer cloths, travel perks to avoid real work, hot cars turbo-charged for living large!" During this the four humans below fell over anime-style in disbelief as the four Gems just shared a confused look once again lost on what Mai was talking about.

Stephanie just sweat-dropped, _'She has all the worst qualities of the Pizza sisters combined! I mean, I love Jenny and Kiki, but they're going to be the death of me one day.'_

"Well, why do you duel then?" Mai asked seeing the unimpressed look on the dual-haired girl's face, "Since I told you it's only fair that you tell me." Stephanie's lips twisted slightly as her father's image on the TV flashed through her head followed by the memory of his soulless, unresponsive body lying in the hospital bed, which was followed by the gruesome images of Garnet being forced apart into Ruby and Sapphire, only for them, Amethyst and Pearl to be chained like animals, which were closely followed by red, blue, white and purple gem shards.

What Stephanie didn't realize that during her flashes, she was clutching the rails of the platform tight in her fists. As these flashes played, her strength increased and so did her grip as her anger and worry slowly grew.

Mai's eyes widened in shocked-alarm, "Hey, don't break the arena!" Everyone else was gasping as Stephanie, in her anger and display of abnormal strength pulled the rails from one end and bent them upwards with disturbing ease.

"She's strong..." Tea found herself repeating what she had said about Jazmin back on the ship. Yugi was stunned, face flushing as the spirit in the puzzle practically swooned at the display before whispering in his host's ear, _"She's a keeper."_ Which made Yugi full on blush.

"I'm dueling..." Stephanie finally answered in a barely controlled voice as she looked at Mai from under her curled bangs, eyes a pink blaze with anger, "For my father, for the closest thing I'm ever going to get to a **_mother and _**a **_sister_**!"

In the room with Pegasus, Sapphire softly gasped at Stephanie's words, a tear trickling down the one side of her face. Was that how she had truly seen Garnet as? A mother? Or was it Pearl? A big part of her really hopped it was the former.

Yugi's eyes widened at this as he stared up at Stephanie in silent shock, _'Did Pegasus...take her family like he took Grandpa?'_

Mai was startled when Stephanie pointed at her, continuing to talk with a determined look on her face, "I'm dueling for _them!_ They've done so much for me, now it's my turn to save them! And not you, not Pegasus, not any duelist on this speck of an island is going to stop me from getting them back!" Mai's eyes were wide as she listened to the sheer passion and raw determination in the other girl's voice, and somehow, Mai believed her.

Yugi grinned as he encouraged her, "Show her what it's like to duel with the _right_ reasons!" Stephanie softly panted, breathing through her nose as she calmed down and smiled at him with a nod.

"Show that snob who's boss!" Tea cheered her on. "Yeah!" Tristan, Itzel, Akira and Joey added. "You're stronger than her Pinkamena!" Liliya added Jazmin stayed silent, offering an encouraging nod as the two female duelists' Life Points were set to two thousand and like before, the scores were on either corner of the platforms they were on.

 **Stephanie LPs: 2000**

 **Mai LPs: 2000**

"Since I'm just feeling so generous," Mai said as they each drew their beginning five cards, "I'll let you go first."

Stephanie didn't reply as she regarded her hand, eyes once again cold before saying, "I summon Crystal Beast Bismuth Beaver in attack mode." Her creature was a female beaver with aqua blue fur that stood on her hind legs her tail being a blood red color and her eyes were yellow with green irises, and atop her head was a tuff of fur that was purple. She wore a pair of silver bangles and a matching regalia, which had a heart-shaped bismuth stone.

 **Crystal Beast Bismuth Beaver. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: BEAST/EFFECT. Lv: 4 ATK/DEF: 1500/1200**

"Beaver?" Itzel asked skeptically, slightly familiar with the Earth native creature as Liliya giggled softly. "It...kinda...fits," Akira got out, trying not to laugh.

"Crystal Beast?" Joey said in surprised-confusion, "I've never heard of it before," He turned to his shorter friend, "Have you Yug'?" Yugi just shrugged also perplexed.

"Crystal, huh?" Mai said a little impressed, "Every girl's best friend." Stephanie didn't rise to gibe.

"Hey, her beaver's power is increasing!" Tristan said excitedly, "That's a good thing right?" Sure enough, Bismuth Beaver's attack and defense both increased.

 **Bismuth Biver. ATK/DEF: 1950/1560**

Yugi had a wide smile on his face, "It means the forest field _does_ give her beasts a power bonus."

Meanwhile, inside the Millenuium Puzzle, more particularly, a chamber that housed the spirits of Yugi's Duel Monsters, some were watching on a projected screen from the puzzle's Eye of Horus as the duel played on, when Beaver Warrior saw Bismuth Beaver. Instantly, the Warrior-Type had hearts in his eyes at the sight of the colorful female, much to Celtic Guardian's amusement.

Back outside, Stephanie had also cracked a smile at the positive sign, but schooled her expression quickly and said, "Your move Mai."

Mai's response was to start humming as she hovered her hand over her cards, which were all face-down on the dueling platform. "What is she doing?" Jazmin asked incredulously as everyone stared. "She said she was psychic but I honestly thought she was bluffing," Tea replied as Mai continued to hum until she picked up a card, never once looking at its picture.

"The best card to play is..." Mai said as she played the card without opening her eyes, "The Harpie Lady!"

The creature she summoned, sure enough, resembled the winged mythological creatures of Greek legend, looking like a human female with a pale bluish-gray tint to her skin and long red hair, having cerulean wings attached to her arms and yellow claws and talons for hands and feet, and green eyes. She wore a deep blue top that flared like a skirt at the bottom and what seemed to be purple tights.

 **Harpie Lady. Attribute: WIND. Tribe: WINGED-BEAST. Lv: 4. ATK/DEF: 1300/1400**

"Pinkamena said that the mountains gives a power bonus to Dragons, right?" Itzel suddenly asked after they got over the initial surprise of the correct guess. "Yeah, why?" Tristan replied. "Then why is her monster gaining power?" The rainbow-haired female asked as Harpie Lady's strength increased just as Bismuth Beaver's had.

 **Harpie Lady. ATK/DEF: 1690/1820**

"Simple," Mai said, "The mountains also give Winged-Beasts a power bonus."

"It won't matter as she's still weaker than my beaver," Stephanie stated before ordering, "Bismuth Beaver attack her Harpie!"

Itzel thought the urge to charge in herself and grabbed Tristan's hand in an effort to restrain herself. The brunette looked down in surprise, cheeks reddening before looking up at the rainbow-haired warrior in confusion. If Itzel was aware of what she was doing, she made no offer of explanation, eyes fixed on the fight as her Duel Monster counterpart lunged at the winged-creature, who flew into the air to avoid the attack.

"Pink wait!" Yugi shouted in alarm as Harpie Lady twisted in the air, talons and claws poised for a counter-attack, "Monsters that walk on land are at a disadvantage to monsters that fly!"

Stephanie's eyes widened at this and a shine of her prior personality peeks through as she face-palms and shouts incredulously and a little annoyed, " _NOW_ someone tells me!" But she could do nothing as Harpie Lady strikes Bismuth Beaver in the back with her talons reducing her to multi-colored shards.

Itzel, Jazmin, Akira and Itzel stood with wide, horrified eyes as they watched the very real-looking shards fall to the ground, whilst Stephanie cringed, muttering, "I knew I forgot to warn them about something..."

Imagine everyone's, save Stephanie's, surprise when the shards suddenly floated up and flew back towards the forest's edge before collecting together to form a large rock with rainbow-colored crystals shining through the thick cracks. The stone hovered just an inch off the digital ground and spun slowly in place in a clockwise motion.

"What is that?" Mai asked stupefied before looking at the display to see that instead of being in the graveyard, Bismuth Beaver was now in Stephanie's Spell and Trap Card Zone, "What's the big idea? Why isn't your monster in the graveyard? It was destroyed!"

"That maybe, but my Crystal Beasts are all hundreds of years old," Stephanie explained calming her expression, lips quirked in amusement to Mai's reaction, "They've all developed separate abilities among themselves, but at the same time, they've all also gained one similar power to reform on the field as Crystal Geodes for the price of a space in my Spell and Trap Card Zone, and Bismuth Beaver was no different." She kept that small smile, even as her life points dropped.

 **Stephanie LPs: 1740**

"What just happened?" Joey asked confused, "Stephanie's monster was way more powerful than Mai's."

For once, Akira stayed silent, still disturbed by the sight of gem shards. Instead, Yugi answered, "Monsters that can fly have a resistance to monsters that remain on the ground."

"So, Pink blew it already?" Tea clarified. "No," Yugi shook his head, "She attacked too soon, before she knew what kind of abilities Mai's Harpie Lady has."

"Oh cards speak to me," Mai said humming once more before placing a card face-down, once again not looking at it, "I choose again without looking."

This was starting to get Stephanie the slightest bit frustrated, _'How is she doing that?'_ She drew her next card, _'She's just trying to confused me so I'd make a mistake, well, like hell I'm falling for that.'_

"Do you think she's losing it?" Tristan asked in concern as they watched Stephanie contemplate her next move. "No way, I know Miss Diamonde," Akira denied shaking her head, "She learns from her mistakes."

"I call...Crystal Beast Carnelian Ewe to the field," Stephanie said summoning a new monster, "Attack mode."

Her monster was a female sheep with fluffy red wool and deep brown skin with bright yellow eyes. She had her name sake gemstones embedded into the bottom of her ears like earrings and on the sides of her neck. She pawed the ground excitedly for battle as she bleated her version of a war-cry.

 **Crystal Beast Carnelian Ewe. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: BEAST/EFFECT. Lv: 3. ATK/DEF: 1500/1200**

"Aww!" Tea cooed at the sight, surprisingly Stephanie didn't squeal like she had over Kuriboh, but Yugi figured that was a minor blessing given the situation. "Really, a sheep?" Mai asked unimpressed as Harpie Lady licked her lips at the sight of the woolly creature, "That's the best you can do?" She still didn't seem fazed as Carnelian Ewe's attack and defense points increased.

 **Carnelian Ewe. ATK/DEF: 1950/1560**

 _'Darn it, she's right!'_ Stephanie thought as Harpie Lady dove at Carnelian Ewe who scrambled to avoid the Winged-Beast's talons, _'I forgot that because Harpie Lady can fly she nullifies the field bonus...oh boy...'_ She cringed as her sheep was struck and destroyed, like before leaving behind only shards, which formed a geode like before, its red and orange crystals set it apart from the other one.

"Aw man," Tristan cringed at this as Stephanie's life points dropped again.

 **Stephanie LPs: 1550**

"It'll take a lot more than your shiny pets to beat my Harpie Lady," Mai stated cringing slightly at the cold glare she received in response, she then played a card face down and, again, she didn't look at what it was, "Now I'll play this card without even looking, I'll give you a hint, it's an Equip Spell that'll power up my Harpie Lady next turn." This made Stephanie frown.

 _'Calm down Stephanie, you can do this,'_ Stephanie thought breathing deeply in and out through her nose, _'Maybe...if I can just play a strong monster who doesn't receive the field power bonus,'_ She drew and the new card made her eyes widen with a mental smile as an idea formed, _'Or at least...from the forest.'_

"Come on, make your move already," Mai said impatiently before smirking, "Or did you finally give up?"

"Not a snowball's chance in the deepest level of hell, Mai," Stephanie stated with a perfect poker face, still refusing to rise to her bait, much to Mai's frustration and everyone else's amusements, "I'd suggest being careful though, because I'm about to match you wing for wing," Mai adopted a look of confusion until a bird's shriek filled the air as Stephanie played summoned a new monster, "I summon Crystal Beast Cobalt Eagle!"

The new creature shot out of the trees with a twist, spreading its wings in a dramatic effect as it revealed it self to be a large brown bird with a cream-colored head and neck with a plumage of orange feathers on its head. It wore a heavy iron regalia, a trillion-cut cobalt gem in the center of it, matching the perfect sphere cabachon cut cobalts webbed beneath the 'elbow' of each wing. Everyone else stared up at the magnificent bird in awe as its piercing dark blue eyes stared down the startled harpie.

 **Crystal Beast Cobalt Eagle. Attribute: WIND. Tribe: WINGED-BEAST/EFFECT. Lv: 4. ATK/DEF: 1400/800**

"So you got a beast that can fly, so what?" Mai huffed before her eyes widened in realization as she answered her own question, "Wait, it can FLY!"

"So, as a Winged-Beast, instead of getting a power bonus from the Forest, she gains a power bonus from the Moutains, just like your harpie," Stephanie smiled vindictively, her amusement evident, "Meaning your flying advantage just became nullified and void." Everyone below cheered as Cobalt Eagle's power increased as her gemstones glowed.

 **Cobalt Eagle. ATK/DEF: 1820/1040**

"Cobalt Eagle attack!" Stephanie ordered as her eagle flew towards Harpie Lady, "Aura Spin!" Her eagle obeyed by tucking her wings in and beginning to spin as she dove towards Harpie Lady, her gemstones glowed and enveloped her in a visible dark blue flame-like aura. The hit was direct, striking Harpie Lady in the abdomen, making her screech before bursting into data, but unlike her opponents, she didn't reform.

Just when Cobalt Eagle seemed like she was about to hit the ground, she pulled up at the last second and with a final spin, spread her wings out once more to gain altitude, whilst at the same time canceling out her attack. Mai stared, flabbergasted at her monster's destruction almost mumbling in shock as her life points dropped, "She...she destroyed my Harpie Lady..."

 **Mai LPs: 1870**

"Just because they're called Crystal _**Beasts,**_ doesn't mean I have only Beasts," Stephanie said in a collected tone, expression none of the usual excitement she would've in any other circumstance, which worried Akira and Liliya, "You're Harpie only had an advantage when she was the only one who could fly, but my eagle doesn't have such weakness."

"Yeah!" Itzel cheered pulling Tristan close by the neck, accidentally choking the brunette for a moment in her excitement to see her pull a win, "You go Pinkamena!" Tristan gave a slightly quieter cheer, a little winded from her strength, but that excitment died down when Mai started humming again, much to the taller woman's annoyance, "Now what?"

Mai picked up a card and showed it to them, never once looking at it herself, stating confidently, "I play the magic card, Monster Reborn, which allows me to bring back a monster from the Graveyard, so welcome back Harpie Lady," A pale blue porthole opened and her Harpie Lady flew out, revived and well, once again powered up by the field power bonus, but Mai wasn't done as she as she flipped her face-down card, "And to make sure my Harpie won't be destroyed again, I'll play my face down card, Cyber Shield, to power up my Harpie Lady."

Her Harpie Lady glowed a brilliant white light and when it died down, it revealed her to be wearing a golden breastplate styled similarly to a leotard with matching armor on her legs and arms. Just as Mai said, her Harpie's power increased further.

 **Harpie Lady. ATK/DEF: 2190/2320**

 _'Oh no, now she's stronger than Cobalt Eagle,'_ Stephanie thought with wide eyes and sure enough her eagle was reduced to shards, which formed another geode and her life points dropped further.

 **Stephanie LPs: 1180**

"This duel is mine," Mai told her, "No matter what card you play you won't defeat me." She then began to laugh smugly at her apparent sure-fired win.

"Don't let her rattle you Pinkamena!" Akira shouted in encouragement, "You can beat her!"

"Stay out of this you nosy, out-of-place, clueless nuisance!" Mai snapped at her getting everyone's attention, "Don't you get it yet that you're only getting in the way? No matter what card she plays, its no match for my Harpie Lady. When are you rookies going to learn that friendships doesn't win duels? Never has, never will. She's already accepted that she's lost, look at-" She was cut off from her rant by the sound of metal breaking.

Everyone looked in time to see Stephanie bringing her arm back just as Jazmin done with Weevil, the broken piece of the thick metal railing in hand, before she chucked it across the field full-strength at Mai, who shrieked in fright as Harpie Lady, despite being a hologram, moved to avoid it, watching as her mistress ducked as well. Everyone was jaw-dropping as the rail continued to fly through the air until it dug itself more then halfway into the trunk of a thick tree, which had been nearly uprooted from the force.

From the observation room, Sapphire was quietly giggling at the gobsmacked look on Pegasus and Crochet's faces at Stephanie's display of strength. Her little quartz always was a strong girl and she wasn't just talking about will-power. All of the humans were thinking the same thing, _'Are they sure she has fatigue?'_

Everyone cringed a the sheer fury in Stephanie's eyes as she snapped at the blonde, "Insult one of _**my**_ family members again and next time, I won't miss." And it wasn't a threat, they could all tell, it was a promise. It sent a cold chill down the humans spines, while Akira gave a watery-smile, touched at being stood up for, while the other three gems arched a suspicious brow at the emphasis on the possessive adjective.

 _'It's official,'_ Yugi and the spirit thought at the same time, _'I'm in love...'_

"How do you know that friendship can't help you win?" Stephanie demanded, "All you duel for is yourself, you don't know what it's like to fight for someone else, to be willing to put everything you have on the line for someone else," Mai flinched as if slapped, "You're just selfish and shallow, and there is no way I'm letting you win this duel."

"Wow, those words really hurt," Mai said covering her flinch by clutching at her chest dramatically, "Look Pinkie," She ignored both the bodily and eye twitch Stephanie gave at the nickname, "Friendships never last in tournaments like this," To further her point, she motioned to Yugi and Joey, "Sooner or later, you'll be forced to duel Yugi or Joey...or even both, depending on how the semi-finals go, assuming you all get there, what then?"

Now it was Stephanie's turn to flinch, pink eyes turning her original dark brown as doubt spread across her face, thoughts put into a spin, _'She's right, I will have to duel them eventually in this tournament, I know Yugi has family riding in this just as I do, Joey probably does too...you don't just try to sneak into something like this for no good reason, but...I can't...I need to save them!'_ She squeezed her eyes shut at the tall tale feeling of tears trickling her eyes.

What no one seemed to notice was that her cheek marks slowly reappeared, glowing softly against her skin.

 ** _"Don't listen to her Mistress!"_** A voice called in her head making Stephanie widened her eyes in surprise and looked down at her cards as the spirit of Cobalt Eagle, now roughly a few inches tall fly up to look her in the eyes, _**"You mustn't allow Mai's words to dissuade you, she's trying to pit you against your new friends so she can pick you each off one by one,"**_ Cobalt Eagle then perched herself on Stephanie's shoulder and gave her cheek an affectionate nudge as she continued her advise, _**"Yes, you might just have to duel Joey and Yugi eventually, but that doesn't mean you can't still be friends."**_

Slowly, Stephanie gave a small nod before closing her eyes again in frustration, _**"Your...you're right...I was letting Mai get to me, but how am I suppose to defeat her? I know for a fact she's not psychic, but somehow she's pulling the illusion off and I can't figure out how!"**_

The young hybrid shivered at the soft chuckle Cobalt Eagle gave, as if reminded her vaguely of Garnet, _**"Just clear your mind, Mistress, keep calm and I think you just might figure it out."**_

Stephanie breathed steadily through her nose and silently counted to ten, then breathed out slowly through her mouth and felt her entire body relax. Not a second later, her nose twitched, smelling something strange in the air coming from Mai's side of the field. _**"Wait...what's that smell...?"**_ She questioned searching her brain for why it was familiar, _**"There's a bunch of different scents...all coming from...her cards?"**_ She furrowed her brows in thought until it clicked and she snapped eyes open in realization, the color once again pink as the marks faded away again, _'Perfume! All of her cards small like different perfumes!'_

"Let's go kid," Mai called to her, "It's your turn and no one has all day." She became confused when Stephanie began to smirk at her.

"I see through your little trick Mai and its not going to work anymore," Stephanie stated making everyone blink at her calm, confident tone of voice and amused twinkle in her eyes, matching the visible quirk of her lips, "Its actually rather clever, but not clever enough; you sprayed all your cards with different perfumes, that way you can tell your cards apart without ever having to so much as glance at them."

Mai gaped in shock, "No way, how'd an amateur like you see through my aroma strategy? It's just not possible!"

"So that's how she did it!" Tea said hands on her hips. "You go Pink!" Akira and Liliya cheered as Jazmin and Itzel shared a grin.

"Umm...Itzel...?" Tristan crocked tapping the woman's arm to get her attention, "Can...can you let go...now...?" His face actually started to turn a little blue, "Ca-can't b-breathe..." Itzel quickly let go, allowing him to gasp for air. "S-S-Sorry!" Itzel stammered nervously.

"I must admit, you almost actually had me fooled Mai," Stephanie admitted, "I knew you weren't psychic from the start, but your little act had me distracted, so I had so trouble, but now..." Her expression harded back into its original coldness, "I know what you really are...a fraud!" Mai looked a bit panicky at being caught.

"Way to go Pink!" Yugi cheered. "Go get her Miss Diamonde!" Akira added with a wide grin as Stephanie glanced at her with a little nod and a soft, warm smile.

"Just because you saw through my trick, doesn't mean you're going to win the duel, you pink-loving brat!" Mai snapped.

"Now, that...is where you are wrong," Stephanie stated calmly, "For now I summon my Amethyst Cat!" A gleam appeared deep in the forest before a loud roar was heard and her new creature leaped out of hiding, fore-paws planted on a rock for a majestic pose as she roared again.

This monster was a large wildcat with sleek light purple fur and a slender build with light green eyes. She too wore a golden regalia, the front of hers being large and styled with wings, which framed her antique cushion-cut amethyst gemstone. She bared sharp, gleaming teeth dangerously up at the Harpie Lady, who smirked smugly down at her.

 **Crystal Beast Amethyst Cat. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: BEAST/EFFECT. Lv: 1200/800**

"Wow..." Tea, Tristan, Joey and Yugi said in awe of the slender feline. "Of course the runt got her own card..." Jazmin muttered earning a jab to the ribs from Liliya as the power bonus increased Amethyst Cat's power.

 **Amethyst Cat. ATK/DEF: 1560/1040**

"Summoning a pretty kitty isn't going to be enough to stop me Diamonde," Mai commented playing a magic card, "It's so weak, I'll finish it off in one attack and I'll do it with the help of Elegant Egotist, its magic turns my Harpie Lady from one to three."

Harpie Lady's eyes glowed red and rose high into the air, becoming enveloped into a gold light, which split into three and when it died down, everyone else's eyes widened to see three Harpie Ladies in place of one. The original still had her long red hair, setting her apart from the other two. One had short, cropped to her ears, orange hair, while the other had gravity-defying blue hair, both wore the game golden armor as the original and had the same attack and defense points.

"This is bad, this is bad, this is bad, this is bad!" Akira panicked at the sight. "She had enough trouble with just one!" Joey exclaimed, "How is she supposed to beat three?"

"Don't give up Pink!" Tristan called up to the girl, "You still got all kinds of moves left!"

This made Itzel look at him with a hopeful, yet surprised expression, "Really? What kind of moves are those?"

Tristan stammered for a moment before looking to Yugi for help, Yugi answered, "It's Pinkamena's duel, she has to figure it out herself," Looking up at her calm expression, he couldn't help adding, "And something tells me, she just might have something up her sleeve already."

"And I'm going to keep using the power of Elegant Egotist to double my Harpie Ladies again and again each turn!" Mai laughed as Stephanie remained silent, "But while my Harpies multiply, I can't attack, so it's your move, Pinkie," She again ignored the bodily twitch of annoyance at the nickname, "But soon enough, you're be facing an army."

While on the outside, Stephanie was calm and composed, on the inside, she was grinting her teeth in frustration, _'I don't have anything in my hand right now that can help me, how am I going to face an army of Harpies with land-based creatures?'_

She squeezed her eyes shut as her marks re-emerged, glowing again as Cobalt Eagle cooed softly in her ear, _**"Don't give up Mistress, think about Mai's strategy; what has she been doing the entire duel?"**_

 _ **"You mean besides messing with everyone's heads?"**_ Stephanie couldn't help but quip, making Cobalt Eagle snort and preen her hair, _**"The only monster she's played...so far...is her Harpie Lady..."**_ Her eyes widened as the dots connected to what Cobalt Eagle was hinting at, _**"And every other card she's played since are magic cards that just power it up!"**_

 _ **"Exactly,"**_ Cobalt Eagle nodded a proud tone to her voice, _**"And there are serious flaws to that sort of strategy, in fact I recall the exact card that can bring that to fruition."**_

Stephanie took a moment to think it over for what she could be referring to when it clicked, _**"Crystal Heat Chronometer...but I don't have it in my hand,"**_ She glanced unsurely at her deck, fingers ghosting over the top card in her hesitance, _**"It could be at the bottom of the deck for all I know..."**_

 _ **"Trust in us Mistress,"**_ Cobalt Eagle told her, _**"Trust in us as you do in your family, just as they and your friends believe in you."**_

Stephanie steeled her nerve and drew as her cheek marks once again disappeared, and she looked at her new card. Stephanie then said, "Mai," The blonde arched a brow as the other girl slowly smiled, "Things are about to change," She played her new card, "Because its my turn to play a magic card; Crystal Heat Chronometer!" A white gold pocket watch with deep orange flame patterns appeared above her field, hanging mid air by a matching guard chain. It opened itself to reveal it had four hands were made of baby blue crystal, two being bigger than the other two, and the numbers were all different colors.

"Huh?" Everyone asked at the same time confused. "What can that card do?" Mai asked.

"My Chronometer, as the name suggests, makes time go much, much faster as it turns up the heat," Stephanie explains, "How fast and how hotter depends entirely on how many Crystal Geodes there are on the field, so in a way, I suppose I should thank you Mai," She chuckled lightly at the stunned look on the blonde's face, "You helped make my Chronometer a lot more effective." The pocket watch's larger hands both landed on the three.

"I don't get it, what does heat have to do with anything?" Tristan asked confused. "Are you that dumb or are you just faking?" Akira asked skeptically, "Gemstones are naturally formed through heat while they're underground and it takes a lot of time for them form that way." Tristan, rather than get insulted, just gave a silent 'oh', which made Akira and Jazmin roll their eyes as everyone else chuckled.

"And because Pink's monsters are gems, the longer their exposed to the increased heat, the stronger they're going to get," Yugi added with a grin. "That means she can beat Mai!" Liliya cheered in realization as the lighting on the field got stronger, the watch's smaller hands began to spin out of control and time began to fast forward for everything within it. Amethyst Cat arched her back, exposing her gemstone as much as possible to the heat whilst purring in satisfaction as it got brighter and shinier, her fur then got glossier as she grew slightly in size by a couple of inches and her power once again increased.

 **Amethyst Cat. ATK/DEF: 2460/1940**

"So the kitty's necklace got shinier and she got bigger, big deal!" Mai scoffed, "My Harpies are still strong enough to beat her, they're wings cancels the field power bonus, remember?" Stephanie surprised everyone by starting to laugh, a cold, bone-chilling, almost-villain-worthy laugh, "What's so funny?"

"Are you sure about that Mai?" Stephanie asked coolly before motioning to Mai's field, "Perhaps you should look again." Mai, confused, did so and gasped to see her Harpies had aged drastically into weak old crones; they're once young and healthy skin now wrinkled beyond saving and had gained a grayish tint, their hair had turned greasy and white, their armor rusty and cracked, and they had fallen to the ground, too weak to keep themselves in the air.

 **Harpie Lady. ATK: 1300**

"What happened to my Harpies?" Mai demanded in shock.

"More then millennia has passed on the field, one for each geode," Stephanie explained, "While minerals like my **_Crystal_** Beasts remain immortal and unchanged through the course of time, your Harpies are organic beings, meaning that they **_do_** age, and they've became old and decrepit, so ancient, they can no longer fly," She then smirked dangerously and confident, "Face it Mai, you're done," Mai whimpered as Stephanie ordered voice victorious, yet sharp and cold, "Amethyst Cat attack her Harpie Ladies, Wild Hunt Dance!" Amethyst Cat grinned as the Harpies struggled to try and fly before rushing at them and began attacking from all angles in a rapid succession destroying all three.

"She did it!" Akira and Liliya both cheered loudly. "Pink won!" Jazmin added as Itzel wrapped an arm around in a buddy-buddy fashion, both war veterans were grinning at her triumph. "How...how could I lose to an amateur?" Mai asked in disbelief as her life points were depleted and Amethyst Cat gave a triumphant roar.

 **Mai LPs: 0**

"Now you're going to listen and you're going to listen good Mai," Stephanie said as her cat disappeared hands on her hips, "It takes a lot more than just winning to be a winner, I learned that the hard way long ago," She then grasped her locket and gripped it, "A champion doesn't just shine because of the fame and glory, they shine because of the ones they share they're life with, for better or for worse, so if you ever want to be a _real_ champion, I suggest finding someone other than yourself to duel for."

She look over at her cheering friends. Tea, Tristan and Joey were hi-fiving each other, while Liliya and Akira were beaming like the sun, and Jazmin and Itzel were both looking at her proudly. Her eyes then strayed to Yugi who was smiling gently with both understanding and adoration in his eyes as he nodded and gave a thumbs up, which made her smile more genuinely and like her former self. She smiled on as she looked up at the clouds, her family's faces visualizing in her mind's eyes as she added in thought, _'I know I'm finding more every day...'_

 _0000000000000_

In the observation room, Sapphire released a tiny sigh of relief at the victory, _'Thank you...Rose...'_ A chuckle made her look up at Pegasus.

"Trust me Little Clarity," Pegasus stated making Sapphire flinch at her former status, "Rose had very little to do with it and soon enough, that luck will run out and I'll have your precious little quartz exactly where I want her," Sapphire's glare was unrestrained, "And she'll have no one to save her this time around." He wasn't the least bit fazed as the room's temperature dropped drastically.

"IF YOU SO MUCH AS LAY A FINGER ON AS SMALL AS A STRAND OF HER HAIR I SWEAR TO THE FARTHEST, HIGHEST STAR THERE WON'T BE ENOUGH LAVA ON EARTH TO THAW YOU ONCE I'M THROUGH!" Sapphire screamed at the top of her lungs in utter rage, which turned into pain as the collar gave her a large shock, "AAAAAAAGGGHHHH!" But unlike Amethyst, she didn't immediately poof, "WATCH HER, SHE'LL DEFEAT YOU! JUST WATCH HER!" She finally poofed with those agonized words, gemstone hitting the frigged pillow with an audible clink.

Pegasus chuckled in amusement, setting his glass down, watching as Stephanie place her fairly won Star Chip into her gauntlet. His golden eye gleamed ominously as he chuckled to himself.

* * *

 **Okay, there was Stephanie's first real duel, I'm not too sure if Pegasus' invite really counts and her yami makes another appearance. Needless to say, Yugi's yami is pretty smittened. Lol. Anyways, as much as I like Joey's duel against Mai, I find this more satisfying just to Stephanie's reactions to Mai's harsh snaps at how useless she views relationships and to be honest, I kind find quite a few similarities between Mai and Yellow Diamond, surprisingly, so I find those little memory flashes quite fitting, and compared to Joey, Steph kinda would be a bigger target for weak-duelist weeders like Mai.**

 **Also, I'm still looking for suggestions about ship names and I haven't made up my mind about what to name Stephanie's yami nor the name for the yami's life in Ancient Egypt. Let me know what you guys are thinking, both for suggestions and as the story in a whole, I love hearing what you guys are thinking, just keep it PG!**

 **Oh, before I forget, a quick PS to suntan140: hope this was good for you! Made up my mind like a week after I wrote the review replies.**

 **And a quick question to you guys, what do think that, since this is a crossover with Steven Universe, the most musical show I've ever watched, to a song and dance number between Stephanie and Yugi or their Yamis, or even Yami himself and Stephanie or vise versa, or even one between Joey and Lapis? Got any song ideas, I just listened to Rewrite the Stars from the Greatest Showman and its giving me ideas, let me know what you guys think!**

 **Anyways, hope everyone had a great holidays and I'll check back with you in the next chapter! Till then!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own YuGiOh nor their original characters nor do I own Steven Universe and any of its original characters, cause if I did, Rose would've found a way to be able to exist at the same time with Steven! But, hey, a girl can dream.**

 **I have literally nothing to say so I'm just going to skip straight to the review replies:**

 **suntan140: I'm glad you found it so awesome, I personally, was scared I may have made Stephanie's yami a bit violent with how she broke off that railing and chucked it at Mai, but, meh, the yamis do tend to be extrememly different from their lighter halves, so, what can ya do? And yeah, Mama Sapphire ain't gonna have it and after listening to Rewrite the Stars a couple more times and watching some animatics of it, I gotta admit, I'm hooked, but tell me, would it be better for a Yugi X Stephanie moment or a Joey X Lapis moment? Personally, I don't know which would be better, let me know what you think.**

 **LegionnaireBlaze: Lapis is going to have a card-counterpart, just haven't made up my mind on what animal its going to be, just that its to do with water for obvious reasons, but that gave me ideas!**

 **foxchick1: I'm so happy you're enjoying this fic, its so much fun to write!**

 **Next up is Yugi VS the one and only Mako!**

 **Now, on with the next chapter!**

* * *

In the forest, Stephanie was admiring her new Star Chip as her group of friends walked along as she commented, "Three Star Chips...I only need seven more."

"And you defiantly earned them after putting Mai in her place," Liliya stated a touch of pride in her voice that made the shorter girl practically preen. Everyone stopped at a sudden rumbling noise and turned to Joey, who was the source of the sound, making the blonde blush and chuckle sheepishly, "Guess all this excitement's makin' me hungry!" Liliya giggled in amusement, which just made the blonde blush harder.

Another rumble made their heads shrivel to look at Stephanie, who had hung her glasses off her shirt instead of putting them back on and it made her embarrassed blush look cuter as she chuckled, "Me too."

"Please tell me someone remembered to bring food," Tea said mostly looking at her own friends. Liliya and Stephanie opened their mouths when Tristan complained, "I knew I forgot about something!" Whilst face-palming, making Itzel chuckle.

"Guys-" Stephanie tried to tell them. "Man, what we're we thinkin'?" Joey bemoaned, "Comin'ere without anythin' tah eat? How are we goin' tah get through this 'ere tournament if we don't eat?"

This time Akira tried to get their attention, "Um, hello-"

"Good question Joey," Yugi remarked thoughtfully, "Especially since I didn't see anything that resembles a food stand to cater to the duelists since we got here."

"I guess its a good thing I ended up bringing my outdoors survival guidebook," Tristan commented rubbing his nose bashfully at the incredulous looks everyone was now giving him. "Seriously, you don't remember to bring fuel to keep your body going, but you remember a stupid book?" Jazmin asked in disbelief.

"It's not necessarily stupid," Tristan said in his own defense, holding up said book, "It lists all sorts of things that grow naturally in forests like this that we can eat." He completely missed Tea's face turning a little green.

"Huh," Stephanie said as it was her turn to look thoughtful, "When you put that way, it does sound like a handy tool," Tristan beamed at the compliment, but she then remembered, "But-"

She was cut off by Tea, who snapped at the brunette male, "Do I look like a squirrel Tristan? I need to have the five basic food groups or its a metabolic meltdown!" She then sniffed the air, "I don't need your stupid book, I smell food that way!" With that, she took off before anyone could stop her, heading towards the ocean.

But it didn't stop Stephanie from shouting, "Tea wait, we-!" She stopped and returned to a normal speaking tone as she finished a little dejectedly, "Have food."

"Huh?" The three males asked in surprise. "We actually thought ahead," Akira explained as Jazmin slid off the black leather backpack they hadn't noticed her wearing before and took out a bento box, "And knowing Miss Diamonde, we were going to share-"

Stephanie took the box and opened it, showing them it had been styled with little dividers to keep all the food inside from spilling into each other and making a mess. There were traditional riceballs, a few sandwiches, some pieces of tender fried chicken seasoned with pepper and honey, even some roasted veggie skewers.

"There's plenty, so help yourselves," Stephanie assured with a smile which made them nearly cry in gratitude, Joey mostly.

All three said at once, "Thank you!" Joey and Tristan took some pieces of chicken and a skewer, while Yugi took a sandwich and a riceball. After taking a riceball and sandwich for herself, Stephanie handed the bento back after closing it, which Jazmin put away whilst saying, "We better go after her, before she gets herself thrown off the island."

They all walked after Tea whilst eating. "Man, this is so good," Joey said as he bit into his skewer. "Really?" Liliya asked cheeks reddening, "I never really cooked before, so..."

"You made all this?" Joey asked in surprise. "Yeah, Pearl, the one who usually does all the cooking..." Liliya said pausing to think of something to say as Stephanie tensed slightly at the mention of the white Gem, "She's...well...she was...preoccupied." Joey, Yugi and Tristan all arched a brow at her wondering why she had to think up an excuse like that, but didn't comment.

They soon found Tea after they finished eating, she was hiding behind a rock, looking over its top at a small fire where three fish were skewered onto sticks and placed around the fire so they could cook. Drool was starting to leak from Tea's mouth as she stared, "It looks so good..."

Liliya arched a brow at her, "What makes you think they're yours?" But Tea didn't answer as she jumped over the rock and made a beeline for the fish.

"Some people have no self-control," Tristan commented. "She really shouldn't do that," Akira added.

"You really shouldn't be eating other people's food without asking first Tea!" Stephanie called as they walked towards the brunette, "You're going to get into trouble!" Tea wasn't listening, plucking a fish from the ground and was about to take a bite when a voice called out in irritated-anger, "OI!"

They all looked over to see a tall teenaged boy the students' age, maybe a little older with deep tanned skin, being around Liliya's height with dark blackish-blue hair styled similarly to Yugi's in a vague star-like shape, save for the back being long enough to be pulled into a short, messy ponytail, his bangs held in place by a white headband with a light blue wave pattern on it, which was under a pair of diving-goggles, he had pale blue eyes and a distinguishing scar on his left cheek. What had Stephanie blushing like crazy was the fact he was shirtless, only wearing a pair of navy blue swimming trunks with what looked like a utility belt, showing off his well-muscular build.

"How dare you steal my fish you bottom feeding thieves!" The young man shouted near noticing the large wave coming up behind him as he scowled at them, "Have you no respect?" He yelled out in surprise as he was knocked back into the ocean by the wave, making the humans and hybrid sweat-drop, Stephanie taking the opportunity to start slapping her hot cheeks in effort to make the color go away.

Jazmin, Itzel and Akira, however, all turned in sync to Liliya, each lifting a single questioning eyebrow at her. Upon noticing, Liliya just gave them a slightly offended look and asked, "What are you looking at me for?"

"Un, so, can we eat now?" Tea asked never noticing no one else had went for a fish. But then, the man grunted as he reappeared at the edge of the cliff, having climbed back up as he muttered, "Alright, let's try that one more time." Once back on the cliff, he stalked towards them, not at all intimidated when Jazmin and Itzel moved in front of the group as if ready to react if he did anything out of line.

"How dare you steal my fish you bottom feeding thieves!" The man repeated scowling still, "Did no one teach any of you manners?"

"Chill out buddy, its just a few fish," Tristan said on Tea's behalf, which only served to anger the fisherman more. "A few fish that do not belong to any of you!" He shouted shaking a fist, moving closer but stopped when Jazmin and Itzel moved into his path, but Yugi noticed he was wearing a Dueling Glove.

"A Dueling Glove?" He questioned before leaning forward a little as recognition flashed through his eyes, "Wait, aren't you Mako Tsunami? The Ocean Duelist?"

This perked Liliya's interest, "Ocean Duelist?"

"And who might you be?" The newly named Mako asked in response.

"Wait, Mako Tsunami as in THE Mako Tsunami?" Stephanie asked squeezing past Jazmin and Itzel to get closer to the pro-duelist, stars in her eyes, "The water-specialized duelist who came in third place at the Japanese Regional Championship?"

"That would be me miss," Mako stated proudly chest puffing up, which made Stephanie blush a bit, which only Yugi noticed and he frowned, "Strongest duelist of the seven seas!" But his moment was unknowningly ruined when something crawled onto his head, making Stephanie giggle and it was Mako's turn to blush, "What? What're you laughing about?"

Stephanie walked closer to him and had to stretch onto her tiptoes to pull off the squid that was hanging off of his goggles, her close proximity making his blush harder. "Someone hitched a ride," She said smiling as she rubbed the squid's side gently, "I think he likes you."

Mako grinned and rubbed the back of head sheepishly before taking the squid and gently tossing it back into the ocean. The interaction made Jazmin and Itzel relax slightly as Liliya and Akira shared an amused look. Tristan, Tea and Joey shared an uncertain one as Yugi crossed his arms, forcing himself to relax.

"Anyways, I'm Ste-Pink!" Stephanie began to introduce but was quick to catch her near slip up and correct herself, "I'm Pinkamena Diamonde, and the two muscle-women are Jazmin Yamazaki and Itzel Hau," She motioned to her two 'bodyguards', then the other two Gems, "The bluenette is Liliya Mizushima, the shortie in green is Akira Oshiro," She then introduced her newer friends, "And Yugi Moto, Joey Wheeler, Tristan Taylor and Tea Gardener."

"Wait, Yugi Moto, the only duelist to ever beat Seto Kaiba?" Mako asked looking at Yugi, who waved with a smile, now it was Mako's turn to relax as he laughed, making the four older Gems relax, "What an honor, it would be a true privilege to face you in a duel." Jazmin arched a brow at his words, but no one else batted an eye.

In fact, Yugi chuckled and replied with a humbled smile, "Same here Mako."

"I spoke much to harshly before, I've been ungracious," Mako said genuinely apologetic, "If you are friends of Yugi Moto, then please, come sit and eat your fill."

"Thanks but we've already eaten," Stephanie said as Tristan, Yugi and Joey nodded but they sat down anyways. "Unlike most, we came prepared," Akira added shooting Tristan a pointed look as she took a fish, "But I wouldn't mind trying one of these." At Mako nod, she took a bit and hummed happily at the taste. Liliya and Itzel followed suit as Jazmin took the bento out again and ate one of the sandwiches. Mako didn't seem to mind as he got his own fish and joined in the meal-time.

Soon enough, all the fish was eaten and Akira burped, making her flush deeply, "Oh, excuse me." She accepted a napkin from Liliya, who giggled at her.

"Where'd you learn to cook Mako?" Tea asked their new friend, who chuckled. "I learned to fend for myself pretty quickly when I was rather young," Mako answered with a sigh, eyes closed as he reminisced, "But it was my father who taught me how to fish as well as to cook."

"Really?" Stephanie asked intrigued, thinking about her own father, "He must've been something special."

Mako smiled softly, a distant look in his eyes, his voice dropping to a whisper, "He was..."

"So what's a duelist like you doing in a tournament like this Mako?" Yugi asked curious as Mako didn't appear to be anything like Mai and Weevil. "I was raised my entire life on the sea, I know nor want any other life," Mako answered honestly, "I've been entering competitions like this so I could buy and maintain my own vessel, of course," He then looked at his own Dueling Glove, "I'm going to have to beat a couple more duelists first to get into the finals."

"Your own boat, wow, that would be so cool," Joey said with a smile, "Imagine it, living a life out on the sea without so much as a care in the world..." The four Gems tried to picture such a life. To be honest, for Gems like Jazmin and Akira, who's needs were on land, it would drive them crazy, for Itzel, she saw it more as a nice way to relax for a short amount of time, but for Liliya, she was sighing dreamily, eyes full of longing as she gazed at the ocean, completely smitten with the fantasy.

"Yes, the ocean is a truly magnificent place, and we've shared a special bond since I was born," Mako said also looking out at the sea, a smile on his face, "I can tell when its happy by how the water sparkles or when its angry by how the tides shift and the waves roar..." He then turned back to the others and scratched his head sheepishly, "Ah, forgive me, I didn't mean to get so serious and ramble!"

But Stephanie had stars in her eyes from his previous words, having never heard someone speak so passionately about anything before, save Garnet when she spoke about fusion, "Don't be sorry Mako, I think its so cool how you speak so freely about something you clearly love, not a lot of people feel like they can do that." Mako smiled at her in response at her sincerity.

"Anyways..." Jazmin spoke up as she put the bento away, "We really should be going."

"Leaving so soon?" Mako asked getting up along with them. "Yeah, there's still lots of duelists to meet 'n' defeat," Joey said with a smile. "Maybe we'll meet up later in the competition," Yugi said as he and the others started to walk off when a spear suddenly came flying and embedded the ground close to his foot, making him and the others freeze, wide eyed with shock and the Gems, Stephanie included, tensed.

"What the hell's the big idea!" Joey demanded in a yell as they all turned to face Mako, "You coulda hurt someone!"

"Any good fisherman knows how to lure in his prey without harming them," Mako stated with a smirk, "With the right bait anything, or rather, anyone can be lured in."

"Prey?" Jazmin demanded. "The fish," Akira said putting the pieces together, "Is that the bait?" Mako nodded at her.

"Indeed, you'd be surprised how many duelists tend to forget that not all tournaments carter all every human need, nothing's perfect," Mako answered, "I'm used to it as I can fend for myself quite fine, so I laid out the fish to lure in less capable duelists in, I had no idea I'd lure Yugi Moto, of all people, in though," He then gave a grin worthy of a shark, "And now, I challenge him to a duel!"

Before anyone could react, Yugi's Millennium Puzzle glowed and he once again called out, "YU-GI-OH!" And once more, he changed into his other form, he stared Mako down, demeanour once again doing a complete 180 turn as he stated, "I accept your challenge." Mako smiled, unfazed by the cold stare and looked over at the cliff-edge as an arena rose up from beneath the waves, much to the others shock and amazement.

"Behold, we shall duel beside the majestic sea," Mako grinned walking onto the red platform as Yugi followed, taking the blue one, "The playing field is split into two equal halves, one land, one sea," He then put down two of his Star Chips, "And I wager two Star Chips on this match." Sure enough, the field was equally split in two environments, Mako's was the sea-half and Yugi's side resembled a rocky shore.

"Very well," Yugi replied placing down his own Star Chips, "Two Star Chips it is."

 _'Finally, an adversary worth the merit,'_ Mako though in excitement as the arena activiated and their life points were set to two thousand, the both of them drew their beginning five cards, _'Let's see how well he battles against the ocean,'_ He placed a card, taking the first move as he said aloud, "I shall move first, and I'm curious to see how you handle my denizens of the deep." As he said this, a glow appeared beneath the water and a large shadow could be seen beneath the surface, indicating he had summoned the monster, but it remained submerged.

 **Yugi LPs: 2000**

 **Mako LPs: 2000**

"This I don't like," Joey commented, "How can Yug' know which card tah play if he can't see what monster he's fightin' or how strong it is?" Liliya and Akira could only offer him a helpless shrug, not having an answer themselves.

 _'Joey's right, as long as that monster stays submerged I can't attack,'_ Yugi thought, _'But I can still make a strong defense,'_ This in mind, he selected a card and summoned his chosen monster to the field, "I summon the Horn Imp." The creature he summoned was short and human-like with a dark orangey-hue to its skin with red eyes, pointed ears and a single black horn on its head.

 **Horn Imp. Attribute: DARK. Tribe: FIEND. Lv: 4. ATK/DEF: 1300/1000**

"Hey, is what Mako's doing with the fish technically fair?" Itzel suddenly asked out of the blue, "I mean, playing on someone's hunger like that just to lure them to a field he has an obvious advantage?"

"Well, morally, maybe," Stephanie shrugged, "But this far into the tournament where the field power bonus is probably common knowledge by now, I don't think so, I mean, he technically isn't breaking any rules by leaving fish by a fire to cook."

Back with the duel, Mako called his attack, "Now Fiend Kraken, crush his monster!" Mako's monster emerged from the depths, revealing itself to be a large whitish-colored squid creature based off the Greek sea-monster.

 **Fiend Kraken. Attribute: WATER. Tribe: AQUA. Lv: 4. ATK/DEF: 1200/1400**

Akira squawked in shock, falling onto her rump, looking like she was about to wet herself from fright as she stared up at the aqua monster, "That's a...BIG fish..."

"Cephalopod," Liliya and Stephanie both corrected at the same time, before looking at each other in surprise, but smiled happily. "Cep-what-pod?" Tristan asked crossed eyed in confusion. "Cephalopod is the classification of squid and octopi in the Animal Kingdom glossary," Stephanie explained much to everyone's surprises, save Mako and Liliya, "What, I like animals and I live by the sea." During this, Mako's Kraken gained a power boost from the sea-field.

 **Fiend Kraken. ATK/DEF: 1560/1820**

"Attack!" Yugi ordered but it was useless and he could do nothing as Fiend Kraken crushed Yugi's Imp with frightening ease before slightering back into the depths of Mako's field. "Well done Kraken," Mako praised the beast before it disappeared underwater as Yugi's life points dropped.

 **Yugi LPs: 1740**

"Well," Yugi muttered mostly to himself, "Now I know what I'm up against."

"Yes, the mighty ocean commands respect," Mako stated, "As do all those that inhabit it." Liliya nodded her head in complete agreement to Mako's words, which earned a jab to the side from Akira, much to the blue-haired girl's confusion.

 _'Perhaps I can play a monster that can destroy his monsters,'_ Yugi thought lips twitching with a small smile, _'Even though I can't see them.'_ He summoned a familiar green winged imp from his duel with Weevil, who growled at being brought out.

 **Feral Imp. ATK/DEF: 1300/1400**

"I see what he's doing," Stephanie smiled figuring out what he was doing, making the others look at her questioningly, so she explained, "Remember his duel with Weevil?" All but Tea, who shuddered, growled at the reminder of the cheater, though, Jazmin was smirking, remembering how she had tossed him, Stephanie continued to talk, "Well, the Feral Imp attacks with electricity and water conducts electricity, meaning he can hit Mako's monsters without having to charge them!" Everyone else grinned at the cleverness to Yugi's plan.

Mako just chuckled, "I am aware that water conducts electricity, so my next card shall be the Giant Jellyfish!" A glow appeared underwater again, followed by a rounder shadow as a loud cry rang through the air, sending a chill up Akira, Itzel and Jazmin's spines and Liliya simply stared in anticipation, "That sound is my monster's battle cry!"

"Oh, it'll be crying alright, once I combine my Feral Imp with the magical Horn of the Unicorn!" Yugi retorted playing his spell card, causing a familiar horn to appear on the Feral Imp's head, making it roar as electricity cackled around its body as its strerngth rose.

 **Feral Imp. ATK/DEF: 2000/2100**

Yugi called his attack, "Magic Lightning attack!" But a glow in the water as the top of Mako's jellyfish began to rose out of the water caused Stephanie to gasp, "Yugi wait!" But it was too late, the attack hit the water only for Mako's monster, which lived up to its name as a gigantic blue jellyfish with yellow patterns on its top rose up fully from the sea, its long tentacles cackling with electricity.

Tristan cowered under its sheer size, commenting, "I'll never look at the aquarium tanks the same way ever again..."

"Of course, now I know why Giant Jellyfish was so familiar..." Stephanie remarked, "Its based off of a combination of the moon jellyfish and the box jellyfish..."

"The what and the what fish?" Itzel asked confused. "They two different sub-species of jellyfish," Stephanie replied, "And jellyfish naturally produce electricity, they're immune to it!" Everyone gasped at her in shocked-alarm.

"Quite right, your ingenious strategy has failed, any sea duelist knows that water might conduct electricity, but jellyfish absorbs it to increase the power of their sting," Mako boasted as his jellyfish absorbed the Horn of the Unicorn's power, reducing Feral Imp to its original stats, before returning to the depths of the sea, "My Giant Jellyfish is no different, as his ability to absorb electrical attacks protects all of my ocean creatures."

 **Feral Imp. ATK/DEF: 1300/1400**

"Now for my counter attack," He continued, "Fiend Kraken destroy his Feral Imp!" His first monster emerged once more to ensnare Feral Imp in its tentacles and crushed it, once again reducing Yugi's life points.

 **Yugi LPs: 1480**

 _'I've never faced monsters like these before,'_ Yugi thought in concern, _'And I've never fought a duelist like Mako before either."_

"Do any of your cards have the power to stand against my monsters?" Mako asked him. "Perhaps, I summon Silver Fang!" Yugi replied as he summoned a new monster, a large white wolf with sharp, soulful dark eyes.

 **Silver Fang. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: BEAST. Lv: 3. ATK/DEF: 1200/800**

But Yugi wasn't done as he played a spell card, "And I combine him with the power of the Full Moon to double his ferocity." His wolf howled as a holographic full moon appeared above the field.

 **Silver Fang. ATK/DEF: 1500/1100**

However, Mako just chuckled, "Ferocious indeed, but the moon calls to more than just a beast's soul, it controls the tides as well and causes them to raise," He then summoned another monster, "So, thanks to your Full Moon, I can summon the mighty Kairyu-Shin!"

Everyone could only watch and stare as his monster emerged from the sea as the tides rose. It could only be described as eel like with a long, serpentine body that was a deep blue with a whitish-beige underbelly, it was eyeless and had a mouth full of jagged, sharp, red-colored teeth. And it was intimidating as it was disturbing*.

 **Kairyu-Shin. Attribute: WATER. Tribe: SEA SERPENT. Lv: 5. ATK/DEF: 1800/1500**

"That is one big fish," Joey said in both awe and worry as they all stared. "Eel," Liliya and Stephanie more instinctively corrected. "Whatever," Was Joey's half-hearted response as the creature roared as the field power bonus kicked in.

 **Kairyu-Shin. ATK/DEF: 2340/1950**

"What a beast," Yugi said also impressed. "I'm glad you respect my monster, because whenever he rises from the ocean depths he creates his own tidal wave," Mako said as the wave his monster had risen washed over Yugi's side of the field, washing away Silver Fang, "Gone, but my monster's attack did more then just wash away your wolf cub, it considerably altered our playing field."

"My land!" Yugi exclaimed as he saw his side of the field, once a rocky shore, was submerged in water, save for one speck of land, which now served as a lonely isle among Mako's expanded field, "His attack nearly wiped away the entire land-based field!"

"You should consider yourself lucky Yugi, when my Kairyu-Shin attacked in my other duels nothing was left in its wake," Mako commented idly with an almost thoughtful look on his face, "I suppose it was feeling generous, leaving you that small speck of dirt to stand upon or are you unnerved to be surrounded at all sides by nothing but sea?" A dark, distant memory seemed to come forth to Mako's mind, his tone turning soft and distant, almost hurt and pained, "All men give pause to the true might of the ocean, even the greatest of fishermen."

Both Yugi and Stephanie's eyes widened, understanding what Mako was saying, while the others were unsure. Both shorter duelists said it at the same time with understanding, "Your father." Mako nodded.

"My father was a great man, he taught me everything I know about the sea and how to survive, however, one day, the sea took him," Mako explained fists clenching at the memory, still evidently fresh despite seeming to be so long ago, "I always loved being with my father on our boat, just us and the big beautiful sea," The little smile on his face strained, "My father noticed a storm blowing in and before we could do anything about it, it was upon us and threw our boat around as if it were a toy, seeing I couldn't hold on for long, my father tied me down to the mast just as a large wave hit, when I came too, I had washed ashore without him, I searched the whole wreckage, but not only was he missing, but so was our lifeboat," He smile got stronger and more determined, "I know my father is still alive, out there, somewhere, so I will win this tournament, but a boat and I'll sail the seven seas to find him!"

Stephanie had tears prickling her eyes at the tale, stiffling her gasp or cry with a hand over her mouth, unable to imagine what it had been like for Mako to have witnessed the possible death of his father at a potentially young age. She had heard from Sour Cream during one of his rants about Yellowtail of how dangerous the fisherman's life can truly be and she had her doubts, but something about Mako's resolve made her believe in him, somehow, it made her feel a little close to him.

"I understand Mako, believe me," Yugi told him with a genuinely sympathetic and understanding tone of voice, "Doing everything you can for family is something I can relate to all too well...but I can't let you win this duel." Mako smiled understandingly in silent reply and nodded in turn.

"Wow, Mako duels in hopes to one day find his father," Tristan said in awe, "Almost like how Yugi duels for his grandfather."

"And how I duel for Serenity," Joey said more to himself as he took out his wallet and opened to a picture of a young girl with long russet brownish-red hair and big, innocent eyes. "And Miss Diamonde for her father," Akira added softly as she and Liliya looked at the shorter girl with sympathy, the girl grasped her locket with her free hand.

 _'With so little land left, I have to make this move count,'_ Yugi thought as he drew his next card and then called, "Giant Soldier of Stone!" He summoned a monster that could only be described as a golem carved out of large boulders styled like a warrior with a pair of swords on its back, standing imposingly in a kneeling position.

 **Giant Soldier of Stone. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: ROCK. Lv: 3. ATK/DEF: 1300/2000**

"Impressive," Itzel said appreciatively to the stone soldier's design. "And because of his earth attribute and being a rock in general, he gets a field power bonus from the island," Tristan added with anticipation as the golem's strength rose.

 **Giant Soldier of Stone. ATK/DEF: 1690/2600**

"Your massive monster can barely fit on that patch of rock, let alone do battle with my undersea attack force," Mako said chuckling at how tight a fit the large statue made on the island, "And he's surrounded by the ocean, making him perfect prey for my Great White Terror!" A glow appeared beneath the water like before, but this time, the monster jumped out of the water, revealing itself to live up to its name sake, resembling Great White Shark, but strangely had a pair of human arms perturbing from its fins.

 **Great White Terror. Attribute: WATER. Tribe: AQUA. Lv: 5. ATK/DEF: 1500/1200**

"Um...correct me if I'm wrong but...since when do aquatic life have human limbs?" Akira asked a bit weirded-out by the new monster. "I'm...they don't..." Tea answered also a little freaked out as the power boost of the sea field gave the shark more power as it dove back into the water.

 **Great White Terror. ATK/DEF: 1950/1560**

"This is bad, this is bad, this is bad, this is **_bad_** ," Akira whimpered in panic. "Oh man," Joey said instinctively grabbing Liliya's hand as the three shadows of Mako's monsters swam towards Yugi's golem, "Yugi's monster is out numbered three to one."

"This is the end for you Yugi," Mako told him with a sincere smile, "But you played honorably."

"You were a fair and noble opponent yourself, Mako, I truly wish there were more duelists out there like you," Yugi responded returning the smile but there was a resolve in his eyes, "But I have too much at stake with a loved one's life, which is why I cannot let you win," He then switched his golem's card position, "I switch my Giant Soldier of Stone to attack mode."

Everyone gaped in confusion, "Eh?" As the giant stone man slowly rose from his kneeling position to stand at full height, but it was Mako who asked, "But why? He can't attack any of my sea creatures, they're underwater."

"But his target isn't one of your sea creatures, I'm having him attack a card I put on the field myself," Yugi explained pointing at the moon, which still hung above the field, making everyone gasp in shock as the golem drew one of its swords, "Now Soldier of Stone, destroy the moon!" At his command, the stone warrior rose its sword and struck the moon, making it explode on impact with a burst of light that had everyone shielding their eyes.

When it faded, everyone watched as the debris from the attack fell into the water as the waves began to recede from Yugi's side of the field, making Mako gasp in shock, "The tide...its going out...but how?"

"You said it yourself Mako, the moon controls the tide," Yugi answered with a smile, "So when my Soldier destroyed the moon, it caused the tide to reverse and recede." True to Yugi's word, the water completed receded, returning the land-field to how it was before, and leaving all three of Mako's monsters beached on its rocky shore.

"No..." Mako whimpered at the realization he was done for, "My precious fish..."

"And now I'll deliver the final blow," Yugi stated summoning a familiar yellow dragon, "I combine my Curse of Dragon with the Burning Land magic card to wipe out your life points." Curse of Dragon rose into the air and, like before, flew a stream of fire upon the land, destroying all of Mako's monsters and reducing all two thousand of his life points to zero in one fatal swoop.

 **Mako LPs: 0**

Mako almost fell to his knees from both shock and despair, shock from the suddenness of the roundabout move and despair from the loss itself, but caught himself. "Alright Yugi!" Tea cheered as Jazmin and Itzel shared a smile. "He did it!" Liliya and Akira cheered as Joey and Tristan grinned at each other, which turned into light laughter as Liliya, in her cheer, hugged the blonde around the shoulders.

"To destroy your own moon was a truly unexpected but brilliant move Yugi," Mako stated before grinning broadly, "What a grand duel, I salute you my friend!" He gave a cheerful, mock salute, bearing no ill will, which made everyone, even Jazmin smile.

"This victory certainty wasn't an easy one Mako," Yugi complemented back as they got off the platforms, "You're an impressive duelist yourself, well deserving of your title." Mako handed Yugi his fairly-earned Star Chips as the arena disappeared back beneath the real ocean.

"I am down to one Star Chip," Mako said with a serious undertone beneath his otherwise up-beat voice, "But I will start over."

"There are eight finalist spots to opposed the usual four," Yugi acknowledged, "I bet you'll do well."

"You'd win that wager!" Mako laughed. "He better, cause now I really want a shot at ya at the finals," Joey added and Stephanie nodded in agreement. "It'll be a match to look forward too," Mako chuckled as Stephanie steeled her nerve.

"Mako," She started getting his attention and surprised everyone with a bow as she said, "I'm sorry about your father," Mako stared in surprise, blinking, of all things he expected her to say, that wasn't one of them, as she straightened, she explained, "I know its silly, cause it probably happened a while ago, but..." She sucked in a breath to get her next words out, willing her eyes to not shed tears, "I know what its like to lose a parent...even though I never knew my mother..." The other teens and Mako's eyes widened, "And it hurts...no matter how much time passes or how many times you try to accept it...it hurts...so...I just wanted to say, I'm sorry."

He grip on her locket gave Liliya, Akira, Jazmin and Itzel looked at the ground with uncertainty as Yugi whispered in sympathy, " _Hime_..."

Stephanie had her eyes squeezed shut, waiting for the negative reaction she was expecting, but imagine her surprise when she felt a hand on her head, giving it a gentle ruffle through her hat, nearly knocking her sunglasses off. She looked up in surprise to see an understanding, yet very grateful look on Mako's face before he pulled her into a hug, much to her surprise as her face reddened as he said, "Thank you...Pink..."

She smiled as she slowly returned the hug, "You're welcome...Mako..." They parted with friendly grins, which made everyone else smile, though Yugi's was a little tight.

The moment was ruined by a loud rumbling sound, which was coming from Mako's stomach, making him laugh, his bositerous and gleeful attitude returning, "It appears that duel made me hungry!" He suddenly turned and ran at the cliff-edge, shouting in exhileration and excitment, "Time for Mako to fish again!" Liliya opened her mouth to offer to get him the fish, but a jab to the ribs from Akira cut her off as Mako dived with a final yell, "Farewell!" Everyone rushed to the edge to see him swimming off to catch more fish.

"Goodbye Mako!" Stephanie called with a wide smile as she waved, "See you in the finals!"

"We best be moving on," Yugi stated wrapping an arm without any hesitation around Stephanie's shoulder and guided her away from the cliff edge back into the woods. "Yeah, before Mako decides he wants a rematch," Joey joked as the rest followed, deciding to comment on the arm around the shoulders later, the four strange women hurried along to reform their diamond-shaped formation around Stephanie (and consquencely Yugi) to keep appearances.

"Good idea," Tea chuckled only to then groan, "But I'm getting hungry again."

It made her friends chuckle, while it made the Gems roll their eyes as Jazmin once again took out the bento, making the boys wonder where she kept it and handed it to the brunette, stating, "Don't say we can't be nice." Then continued to walk without another word or form of acknowledgement as the girl thanked her a few times before digging into whatever was left in the bento.

* * *

 **Now that was a duel to say the very least, finding a possible ally, I mean. To be honest, I felt they could've explored Mako's character more in the anime, I mean, he has to be the only other duelist in Duelist Kingdom aside from Mai who is on some sort of friendly terms with the heroes and she didn't even start out that way, and he must be the only one apart from Joey and Yugi who wasn't into the tournament for selfish reasons, its one of the reasons I made it to be eight finalists instead of four like in the show, I really wanted him to get into the finals and have a emotional rematch with Yugi. Ah well.**

 **As for the apology Stephanie gave Mako at the end, I just feel like it would be something even the real Steven would do, especially after hearing Mako had witnessed his father's possible demise, I mean, the kid has way too much empathy for his own good, err, well, her own good in this case.**

 **Could Yugi have a little rival for Stephanie's affections? Meh.**

 **As for that little *, I mean, come on, take one good, long look at Kairyu-Shin and tell me that thing ain't creepy! It has no EYES for Ra's sakes! I have nothing against snakes or eels in general, but the thing has RED TEETH! I mean, come on!**

 **As I said before, there are eight finalists in this story, not four, yes, creepy, cheating Keith is still in this, but he and Mai won't be the only ones in the final competition and I'm so having Mako there as well, which rises the question...who will be the remaining two finals? I mean, Yugi, Stephanie, Joey, Mai, Bandit Keith and Mako, that makes six, I need two more, I'm tempted to put Rex in one of those spots just cause I would've loved a rematch between him and Joey or see him go up against Keith, but that's just me.**

 **Who do you guys want to see in the finals along side the cannon four and Steph? Just cause I might end up putting Mako in the finals, doesn't mean I will. Tell me what you think?**

 **Until next time everyone! Please review!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own YuGiOh nor their original characters nor do I own Steven Universe and any of its original characters, cause if I did, Rose would've found a way to be able to exist at the same time with Steven! But, hey, a girl can dream.**

 **I have literally nothing to say so I'm just going to skip straight to the review replies:**

 **foxchick1: Rex 1, possible others 0 so far, lol! Hope your enjoying the fic so far.**

 **suntan140: I suppose that would be true as they are literally from different worlds about, what, a galaxy apart from each other? What song do you think would be more suitable for a Yugi X Stephanie moment? Or a Yami X Stephanie moment? Aside from Can You Feel the Love Tonight, lol. Let me know what you think of this chapter.**

 **Now, on to the next duel!**

* * *

Atop the high hill of Duelist Kingdom Island, within one of the rooms of a tower, a rope of sheets were thrown out of one of the lower windows as the person inside, a young boy, shorter than both Yugi and Stephanie, peered out of it cautiously, wearing a purple beanie and a dark blue bandanna over his face. Seeing the coast clear he started to climb down the rope of sheets, and was about halfway down when he realized he hadn't used enough sheets and gulped seeing he was still rather high up.

But then, the sheet he was holding onto began to untie itself from the rest, making him look up in alarm, but before he could scurry back up, the sheet came undone and he screamed as he fell, but thankfully, there were large bushes at the bottom to cushion his fall. As he crawled out of them, he rubbed his back for a moment before hurrying away.

Back in the tower, the opened as one of Pegasus' men walked in, carrying a tray of food for the boy. whilst saying, "Here you go runt, your daily gruel," But realized the boy was gone and saw the rope of sheets, he rushed to the window and looked down, but saw no sign of the boy, "Oh no, he's gone!"

0000000000

Meanwhile, in the observation room, Pegasus had taken pause in watching duel after duel, especially as time between duels began to get longer with each elimination. He was reading a comic book as he waited patiently for the next duel to begin and for the Crystal Gems to reform as he said aloud, "Where do these guys get their ideas?" As he took a sip of wine when a glow lit up in the corner of his eye.

He looked over to see the pale gemstone that was Pearl lift off the ground as her tall, slender form took shape in a white light before settling into its human-like appearance. She remained rather the same with her short peach-pink hair, pale greenish-blue eyes and beak-like nose. The only big difference was that she no longer wore a tank, rather, it was replaced with a long-sleeved blouse with transparent, billowy sleeves and a hem that curved around her waist like a pencil skirt, and it was still a minty sea green with its aqua blue sash and yellow star.

She nearly fell to her knees, but caught herself, her turquoise collar's chain instantly re-connecting with her gemstone as she shook her head to regain her senses. Once she did and noticed her surroundings, she glared venomously at Pegasus, who simply went back to his comic, " _You!_ We _trusted_ you! _**Rose**_ trusted you! How dare you do this?"

"Now, now, little Pearl," Pegasus lightly chided taking the remote out of his pocket, making her tense, "There's no need to speak so angrily, everyone has their reasons after all."

"Well, what's your reason for basically using the information Rose gave you against us when promised her you wouldn't?" Pearl demanded angrily, not daring to advance in fear of another shock, "What can you possibly gain from any of this?"

But then, the door opened and the man who had been in the tower walked in, "Master Pegasus, a thousand pardons for disturbing you, sir."

Pegasus merely glanced over his shoulder as Pearl seemed to think things over, "Gorgonzola cheese and the world's finest wine, along with my favorite comic book, times like these are most precious to me," Pearl snorted at those words, but no one spared her a glance, "More than any other, you do realize that, don't you Croquet?"

"I do, sir," Croquet replied tone holding a touch of urgency, "But the other prisoner has escaped."

"Other prisoner?" Pearl asked blinking, before frowning at Pegasus, "You mean you're holding others besides us here? Is it Stephanie? Answer me Pegasus, what did you do to my baby!"

But instead of answering, Pegasus focused back on his comic book, asking instead, "Which one?" Which made Pearl even more worried.

"The one we imprisoned in the north tower sir," Croquet answered purposely leaving out clues to the identity, furthering Pearl's frustration and worry, "I have my men out searching the island but so far, we've found nothing." Pegasus smirked as he closed his comic.

"He must not have appreciated my hospitality," Pegasus commented making Pearl blink, "Relax Pearl, I don't have Rose's little girl," Pearl visibly relaxed, literally falling to her knees in relief, when Pegasus smirked, "Not yet, at least, she will come to me," Pearl glared at him, but remained silent, instead followed his gaze to the screen on the wall, "I know where the boy will go though, after Yugi Moto," He then ordered, "Computer, status report on the Duel Monsters Tournament."

Pearl shuddered at his words, being reminded of the her days as a serving pearl.

"Six hours have passed since the duel contests began, twelve of the participants have been eliminated," The computer reported showing images of dueling arenas and the duelists sitting in a boat, waiting to be taken off the island, "Those that were defeated are being removed from the island by boat." Looking at the boat, Pearl was partly disappointed to see Stephanie wasn't there being taken home and to safety.

"And what of Yugi Moto and Stephanie Quartz-Universe?" Pegasus asked making Pearl tense.

"Yugi Moto has won five Star Chips," The computer replied pulling up head-shot photos of the two in question side-by-side, under were ten stars, for Yugi, half was golden, the other half were black, indicating his progress, while Stephanie had three gold and seven black, "Stephanie Quartz-Universe, under the guise of Pinkamena Roza Diamonde," Pearl did a double take at the false name, "Has won three."

"Excellent, it seems their both determined to move up in the standings and gain entry to my castle, which is exactly what I want them both to do," Pegasus smiled, "We'll keep our spy cameras on the two of them and soon enough out guest will confront young Yugi, for reasons of his own."

Croquet nodded, "Very well sir." He then walked out the door.

"Actually, the boy's escape plays right into my plans, and I have such wonderful plans for the two of them," He grinned, "Ones that I hope they find as entertaining as I do." He then went back to his comic and laughing as Pearl glared and growled at him for a moment, before looking at Stephanie's smiling picture with worry.

00000000000000

Meanwhile, walking down one of the forest trails, Yugi, Stephanie and their group were considering what do next as Yugi looked at his new Star Chips. "Your already have way there Yug'," Joey said with a smile, which fell when he looked at his sole Star Chip, having yet to duel, "Now if only I had more Star Chips mahself."

Liliya wrapped her arms around one of his, having passed the suitcase to Akira so she could try to cheer the blonde up, having seen Stephanie do something similar with one of the boys from Beach City and it had seemed to work, she smiled up at his surprised expression, "Don't worry, Joey, you'll get ten soon enough, then you'll be in the finals right there next to Yugi and Pinkamena."

Joey blushed a little at her forwardness, but honestly didn't mind the encouragement as he thought to himself, _'I know, Serenity's countin' on me.'_ He gave her a grateful smile, which made her beam back, glad it seemed to work and she was doing something right.

"Help!" A voice suddenly yelled out, terror evident in its tone, "Someone help me!" Stephanie and Yugi shared a look that the others recognized all too well and they all took off running towards the voice, the shortest two leading the way to where they found a guard forcibly drawing a young duelist, "Help, somebody help me!"

"Hold on kid, we're coming!" Tristan shouted getting the guard's attention as the brunette charged him and grabbed the larger male by the arm and threw him over his shoulder, "No too shabby!"

"Watch it!" Itzel shouted as she skidded over catching the flying kick the guard had been about to hit the brunette with with one hand and then swung the man like a ragdoll right into a bush where Jazmin grabbed him and pinned him to the ground, digging a knee into his back. Tristan blinked, taken aback by how quickly the two women reacted and said, "Th-thanks..."

Itzel looked at him and playfully winked, "Anytime~!" Making him blush. He blushed harder when Tea walked over and added teasingly, "Yeah, anytime~!" He gently cuffed her upside the head as Yugi and Stephanie checked on the duelist they had rescued.

"What the heck is going on here?" Akira demanded in her best authoritative voice. The guard glared up at her despite the situation, "None of your business." He winced when Jazmin tightened her grip on his arms and dug her knee more into his back.

"Doesn't look that way to me," Akira retorted. "Yeah, what the kid do to earn such harsh treatment?" Joey added as he and Tristan took protective stances in front of the duelist, Yugi and Stephanie, and were joined quickly by Liliya and Itzel as said duelist clung to Stephanie in fear. The girl took a good look at him, he honestly couldn't have been older then six or seven with short maroon-red hair that framed his round face and made his hazel-brown eyes pop out with a dusting of freckles across his nose.

"He lost his Star Chips, the rules say you need Star Chips to remain on the island," The guard explained seeing he didn't have any other choice, "And he doesn't have any, so he's being kicked off the island."

"But I didn't lose them my Star Chips, I lost them, my cards too," The boy insisted, "I didn't even get the chance to duel!"

"I don't care what lame excuse you come up with," The guard said glaring at the boy, who flinched back, "You don't have any Star Chips and you're getting kicked off the island, those are my orders from Pegasus!"

Akira stared at him, "And who says you have to be so rough about it?" Jazmin got off him and the guard dusted himself off and went to grab the duelist again, but Stephanie remained between them with a defiant glare.

"Move it Pinkie," The guard ordered making her twitch, "Before I make you."

"Please, someone really did steal my Star Chips and my deck," The boy insisted gripping Yugi's uniform jacket, "My brother gave me that deck, he'll kill me if I don't bring it back."

"You're not going anywhere, I promise," Yugi assured with a smile. "What if he's telling you the truth and someone unfairly took his Star Chips and his deck?" Stephanie asked frowning, "You'll be disqualifying someone who didn't even lose!"

She yelped when he shoved her out of his way, making the other Gems see red as he said carelessly, "Not my problem, now com'ere brat!" He roughly grabbed the boy from Yugi, who couldn't keep a hold of him and started dragging him away again.

"Are you okay Miss Diamonde?" Akira asked in concern as she and Liliya went to the shorter girl's side. "I'm fine, just a bruised rump," Stephanie assured with dry humor.

"Jerk," Joey spat with a glare, "I say we follow 'im!" The others nodded, Itzel and Jazmin not needing to be told twice as they hurried after the guard.

They followed him to what looked like a miniature pier, where a boat was docked. The guard roughly shoved the boy into the boat with the other duelists who had lost all their Star Chips sat, waiting to be taken back to the Main Land. The guard then tossed the boy his backpack, which he caught before getting shoved by Weevil, who had been sitting next to him. All the other boats present were empty.

"Buzz off, I might be out of the tournament, but I'm still Weevil Underwood!" Weevil huffed angrily, "The Regional Champion!" The boy sighed, bringing his knees to his chest.

"Another loser Kemo?" One of the other guards asked, the guard being asked, Kemo, just nodded with a smirk. "This just isn't fair," The little boy sighed, "Z's gonna kill me."

"Hold that boat!" A voice shouted making the guards turn to see the group running over. "You lot again?" Kemo demanded angrily.

"Hey, what's your name?" Stephanie asked the boy kindly as she took off her sunglasses, making him blush. "L-Le-Leon..." He said shyly making Weevil roll his eyes. "What did the guy who took your Star Chips look like Leon?" Yugi asked.

"I didn't see his face, it was covered with a blue bandanna and he was wearing this big purple beanie," Leon answered, "He challenged me to a duel in the meadow, but when I put down my Star Chips he grabbed them and my deck and took off."

"You shouldn't be kicked off for someone stealing your stuff," Joey said with a frown, "We'll get your stuff back, promise." Leon smiled a little at this.

But Kemo interrupted, "This boat leaves in thirty minutes, anyone who doesn't have a Star Chip by that time is shipped out."

"Oh, and I'm sure the press will just love to hear how you knowingly kicked off an under-aged, unchaperoned duelist off the island," Akira stated making the guards pale a little at her implications, "Probably without notifying his guardians first, when he didn't even lose a duel." Everyone, even the duelists in the boat stared at her with wide eyes.

Tea then broke the silence, "We'll get his Star Chips back."

"Yeah," Tristan agreed, "No way are we letting someone get kicked off the island unfairly for this crap," He yelped when Stephanie stomped on his foot, a little harder then she intended, but thankfully, not hard enough to break anything, "What was that for?"

In response, she answered curtly, "Don't use that sort of language in front of a little kid," She jabbed a thumb a Leon, who looked rather confused, she then glared sternly at the other duelists and the guards, channeling her best Pearl-impression, adding, "And don't any of you go explaining it to him either!" They all gulped nervously and nodded, to frightened to argue.

Watching this from one of Pegasus' screens, Pearl couldn't help chuckling at her ward's antics. Nice to know she rubbed _something_ off onto her.

Stephanie then walked off, the four women in toe, adding, "Now let's find that thief."

Soon, they found the area Leon had told them about and started looking around for any sign of the thief. "So, what exactly are we looking for again?" Jazmin asked.

"Something that could lead us to the thief so we can help Leon," Yugi replied. "But any tracks we find could belong to Leon himself or any other duelist that had happened by before or after the crime," Akira pointed out. This made Tristan face-palm, having not consider the fact, "That's true and this is a big island, so he could be anywhere."

"I say, we wait for him to show up," Joey said whilst crossing his arms, nodding to himself, "He can't have gotten that far, and criminals always return to the scene of the crime." Liliya nodded in agreement after thinking it over, which made Akira and Stephanie share a secret smile.

Having no better idea, they all sat down or leaned against trees, waiting for the thief to show up. "Why do you think the thief took Leon's Star Chips?" Stephanie asked Yugi, who shrugged. "No clue," He answered honestly, which made her sigh and hold her head in her hand, "We'll find out soon though, I suppose." No sooner did he finish talking, a figure jumped out of the bushes, making everyone jump, the bandanna confirmed it was the thief they were looking for, who was just a bit older than Leon, about eight to ten years old.

"Caught you now Yugi!" He said triumphantly, only to yelp when Jazmin grabbed him by the collar and lifted him easily off the ground with no effort at all, "Hey! Put me down, ya giant she-thug!"

Jazmin just arched a brow and held the squirming kid at arm's length and asked simply, "Now what?"

"Okay pal, hand over the Star Chips ya stole," Joey told him, "And no one gets hurt."

"Just try and take 'em, ya blonde dork!" The boy, who couldn't have been any older than Leon, retorted, making Joey growl.

Stephanie and Yugi both narrowed their eyes at the boy, finding him familiar. "From how you singled Yugi out from the get-go," Stephanie started, "I'm guessing you want something from him." The boy nodded as he stopped squirming.

"I think he wants to duel me," Yugi guessed, "Right?" Again, the boy nodded.

Without a second thought, Stephanie ordered, "Jazmin, drop him." Without any hesitation or thought, Jazmin did so, simply letting go, making the boy yelp again as he hit the ground face and chest down.

But he didn't stay down there for longer than five seconds, quickly scrambling for the nearby Duel Arena and away from Jazmin, Yugi followed, once again taking the blue platform as his opponent took the red one. "I don't get it," Itzel said, "Why is he humoring him with a duel when Yamazaki and me can take the Star Chips back so easy?"

"Why'd you order her to let him go?" Tea asked Stephanie incredulously. "Yeah, I thought you wanted to help that Leon kid," Tristan added.

"Oh trust me, we're helping Leon," Stephanie assured, "It'll be a lot easier to get those Star Chips back once the kid gets everything out of his system compared to forcing them from him." The others all thought this over and found themselves surprised to be finding a truth to the statement.

Not a moment later, Yugi's puzzle glowed and he turned into his other self in seconds, before he asked his opponent, "Now how many Star Chips will you wager?"

"To wipe you out, five!" The boy replied careless tossing down the stolen Star Chips. "Then five it is," Yugi said calmly as he set down all five of his Star Chips, "But only because I think I know why you're doing this." The Gems raised a brow at this, wondering what Yugi knew that they didn't.

"I don't care what you think Yugi!" The boy stated rather rudely, "Because I think you're going to lose!"

"Yugi don't waste time with this punk!" Joey called up to his friend, "Remember we got tah get docks before the boat leaves!" Yugi nodded before refocusing on the thief.

 _'This is it Yugi, I'm going to get you back for what you did to my brother,'_ The boy thought determinedly as their life points were set to two thousand, _'You broke up our family the day you defeated him in a duel, now, I'm going to break you up.'_

 **Yugi LPs: 2000**

 **Thief: LPs: 2000**

After they drew their first five cards, he said aloud, "I summon the Man-Eating Plant in attack mode!"

The only way to describe the monster that the boy had summoned was some kind of mutated Venus Flytrap covered in thorns with purple 'lips' and pink flower buds for 'hands' and around the 'neck' of its 'head', its mouth being full of sharp teeth. It disturbed the four Gems, whilst Stephanie shivered a little at the sight of it.

 **Man-Eating Plant. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: PLANT. Lv: 2. ATK/DEF: 800/600**

"I'll counter your attack," Yugi stated calmly summoning his own monster, "With Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress."

Itzel stared up in awe of the dragon Yugi had summoned in awe. It was a light(ish) shade of blue with wings and a tail, not unlike some of the dragons in her own deck, but its wings had claws at the corners, matching the ones on its feet, and the spines down its back, and oddly, it had no arms, its snout was a bit large and its eyes were a grayish-green with slit pupils.

 **Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress #1. Attribute: WIND. Tribe: DRAGON. Lv: 4. ATK/DEF: 1400/1200**

"You're finished Yugi, your dragon is about to become plant food!" The boy stated confidently before ordering, "Man-Eating Plant attack!" His monster charged, but Yugi's fired a fireball at it, reducing it to nothing, much to the boy's shock, "My monster lost?"

Jazmin arched a brow, "Doesn't this kid know how to duel?" Everyone else shrugged as the boy's life points dropped.

 **Thief LPs: 1400**

"Don't tell me you were expecting to win with a monster that weak," Yugi said which angered the boy, "And those cards don't belong to you, so how can your heart be in them?"

"Be quiet!" The boy snapped angry and frustrated, "I don't believe in that Heart of the Cards mush you keep preaching about! Cards have _nothing_ to do with heart!" The Gems and hybrid didn't miss how Yugi and the others' eyes widened with recognition, "The duelist with the strongest cards always wins, no matter what!"

"You're Kaiba's brother," Yugi suddenly said, "Mokuba." The boy gasped in surprise before pulling off the beanie, revealing himself to be well tanned with big brown eyes, and removing the beanie revealed long spiky black hair.

"How did you know it was me?" The newly revealed Mokuba asked. "Who?" Akira asked confused. "It is Kaiba's brother!" Joey said with a frown, "Only someone like Kaiba would think that brute strength is all it takes to win a duel!"

"Isn't Kaiba the name of that guy that Yugi supposedly beat before entering this tournament?" Liliya asked. "Yeah, the previous World Champion," Tristan nodded. "Looks like that's his younger brother," Stephanie remarked as she took off her glasses, a curious look in her eyes, wondering how Mokuba got on the island and what he was even doing here, as she wasn't aware both Kaiba brothers were pro duelists. From Lars' rants and the Cool Kids updated news of the Dueling Circuit, she was under the impression that only the older brother was a duelist, period.

"Yes, Seto Kaiba is my big brother and he's the strongest duelist ever," Mokuba stated, "But now, thanks to Yugi, he's gone, and Pegasus is trying to take control of KaibaCorp!"

Now Yugi looked rather surprised, "Pegasus wants KaibaCorp?"

"Kaiba-what-now?" Liliya asked now lost. "KaibaCorp," Joey corrected before explaining, "It used tah be this big weapon company, that supplied all sorts of dangerous stuff 'round the glob," The Gems narrowed their eyes at this, unaware that humans made weapons of their own, "But now its the biggest leading game company in Japan, second only to Industrial Illusions."

Stephanie nodded in agreement as Akira mentally connected the dots, _'That's Pegasus' company.'_

"And now Pegasus wants it?" Itzel asked confused why Pegasus would want to take over another company. "I don't know what you did to my brother that day you dueled him Yugi, but ever since, he hasn't been the same!" Mokuba shouted tears in his eyes and Stephanie's heart clenched at the sight, "He ran away because of you! And Pegasus moved right in when some of the KaibaCorp executives invited him for some secret meeting!" He banged his fists in frustration against the simulator, "It's all your fault! Seto deserted me because of you!"

"You don't understand," Yugi told him, sounding rather calm despite the scene in front of him and what had been shouted at him, and the four Gems had to respect him for keeping composure, "Your brother didn't desert you, he's searching for himself."

"Lair, tell it to my monster," Mokuba scowled summoning a new monster, "Go Krokodilus!" The monster was a humanoid crocodile with an orange film over its eyes.

 **Krokodilus. Attribute: WATER. Tribe: Reptile. Lv: 4. ATK/DEF: 1100/1200**

Mokuba then ordered blindly, "Attack!" His monster charged, but once again, Yugi's monster destroyed with yet another fireball.

"Kid is nothing like his brother," Akira whispered to Stephanie, who withheld a snort and jabbed the greenette in the side with a pointed look, Akira just rolled her eyes as Mokuba's life points once again dropped.

 **Mokuba LPs: 1100**

"Battling me won't help your brother, and we want to beat to defeat Pegasus just as much as you do," Yugi told him, "He's taken my grandfather prisoner."

Akira then added, "And he's taken Miss Diamonde's family too." Stephanie and Liliya shot her a look and it took her a second to realize she probably shouldn't have said that as everyone else looked at the pink-clad girl for a moment with stunned-sympathy, even Mokuba.

Thankfully, Joey broke the tension, "Pegasus is the bad guy here; can't you see that?"

"You're wrong!" Mokuba protested, "I have to protect my brother's company from Pegasus!"

"I get it," Akira said in realization, "Because Yugi beat Seto Kaiba he's the person to beat for the right to this KaibaCorp, so if Mokuba beats him, Pegasus can't take over." As everyone started to get distracted and talk about what she had said, no one but Stephanie noticed Mokuba was sneaking around the arena to Yugi's side.

Frowning, she ran around the arena in time to see Mokuba climb up and shout, "If I can't beat you, then I'll have you disqualified!" He grabbed two of Yugi's Star Chips, making Yugi gasp and go to grab him, but Mokuba proved quicker and jumped back down, but he wasn't quick enough, because Stephanie grabbed him and made use of her superior strength and held him tight, but watched her strength as not to hurt him.

"Mokuba, this isn't helping anyone, I know you just want to help your brother, believe me, I get that; but this isn't the way to do it and you know it," Stephanie spoke gently as she felt Mokuba slowly stop struggling, "We all want to stop Pegasus as much as you do; we're on the same side," She mentally hoped Mokuba could forgive her for the card she was about to pull, but Mokuba didn't seem ready to stop yet, "What would Seto think if he could see you right now?"

That did it, Mokuba stopped struggling to get away from her and now clung tight to her, desperate for comfort and he cried. He cried into her shirt and, again, Stephanie sent a mental apology to Jenny, as she allowed him to do so as she rubbed his back comfortingly. Seeing he still needed more than just being held, she decided to take one out of her father's book and started to sing softly to him:

 _ **Stephanie:**_

 _ **Evening is a-falling, so rest your weary head,**_

 ** _Don't cry little pebble, sleep tight in your bed,_**

Yugi's eyes widened slightly as her gentle and soothing voice reached his ears as he was elevated down towards them, his cheeks turning pink at the sound. But he smiled, finding the song oddly touching despite the scene before him.

 _ **The diamonds are a-shining, way above the trees,**_

 _ **The scent of springtime flowers floating on the breeze,**_

In the room with Pegasus, the words of Stephanie's song made Pearl gasp in shock, covering her mouth in an instant with wide, stunned eyes. Pegasus merely watched in amusement.

 _ **The moonlight is a-twinkling in the sky above,**_

For Mokuba, as odd as it was, felt strangely safe and comforted by the song and embrace as he slowly calmed down, it reminded him of a time really long ago...before his brother changed. He didn't ease his grip on her, if anything it got tighter. Yugi leaned against the platform, smiling slightly despite what had happened just seconds before as their friends rounded the corner to see what had happened, they all stared at the scene, eyes wide as they realized the singing was Stephanie and Mokuba was crying. Slowly, Liliya, Akira and Itzel smiled, despite themselves, as did Tea, Tristan and Joey.

 _ **Hush now, little darling, all bundled up with love...**_

After a moment, Mokuba finally whispered, "What am I supposed to do?" And it hurt all of them to hear how broken he sounded.

Stephanie smiled at him best she could as she answered, "You can start by doing the right thing, you _need_ to return those Star Chips that you stole to Leon, before its too late," She then wiped the tears from his face, "I'll make sure both you _and_ your brother are safe, I promise." Mokuba looked her in the eye, as if searching for a reason to doubt her, but she just smiled at him in turn.

"Alright, let's go and give that kid his deck and Star Chips back," Mokuba smiled with a little nod. "We have to turn though," Tea said tapping her wristwatch, "There's only a few more minutes before the boat leaves."

"Right," Stephanie said letting go of Mokuba, who also let go, but immediately grabbed her hand, "Let's go." Everyone nodded, running for the docks, and Yugi wasn't the only one who noticed how Mokuba didn't let go of Stephanie's hand as they ran nor how she didn't try to shake him off.

000000000000

In an isolated house on a cliff, sitting in a chair was a tall teenage boy, no older than seventeen, easily Pearl or Lapis' height, making an inch or so taller with cropped brown hair that brushed his ears with layered bangs and piercing sapphire blue eyes wearing a black tank under a purple trench boat with black slacks and boots. He was very deep in thought.

 _'I just don't understand, I've run the computer simulations, probability scenarios and quantum analysis of our duel, but I still don't have the answer to how a virtual unknown was able to defeat me,'_ He thought leaning back in the plush, leather office chair, pinching the bridge of his nose, _'My Blue Eyes White Dragons were dominating the match, they destroyed any monster he summoned no matter what he did, but Yugi never gave up and with his faith in his grandfather's deck, he was able to draw the one card he needed to achieve victory.'_

"I've always thought Duel Monsters was a game of sheer power, but Yugi said the cards have a heart," He mused to himself out loud, "It sounds crazy but, could he really be right? Is there really a heart of the cards that can affect the outcome of a duel?" He then refocused on the disk-like device he had on the desk in front of him, "The only way I'm going to be absolutely sure is with these new holo-generators that'll allow me to duel Yugi wherever I find him." But his work was then interrupted by banging on the door.

"Seto Kaiba, open up, we know you're in there!" A voice shouted before the door was kicked open and two thugs with pistols walked in. "Mr. Pegasus would like to have a word with you," One of them told him, making Seto smirk as he placed the device into a briefcase with a second one before closing it.

"Oh I bet he would," He retorted, "But it'll take a more than you two to scare me."

"This could go the easy way or the hard way," The other thug told him as they started to advanced before Seto kicked the chair at them, knocking them both over. "You'll never take me alive!" He shouted before grabbing the briefcase and jumping out the window.

The two thugs got up and ran over, looking out the window to only see the open ocean. "Nobody can survive a fall like that," The second thug said and the other shrugged as he grabbed the deck of Duel Monster cards still on the desk.

"We don't need Kaiba," The first thug said with a smirk, "Just the deck with the Blue Eyes White Dragon card." He showed his partner a card with a stunning white dragon on it.

0000000000000000

Back on the island, the group, plus Mokuba, were running as quick as they could to get to the docks as Tea panted, "We're almost there!"

When they did get there, they gasped to see the boat was already out to sea, Leon on it. "The boat's already gone!" Mokuba said in shock.

"And there's the jerk who shipped them out!" Joey said pointing at Kemo, who turned to see them and smirked as they ran up to him. "Well, look who's back," Kemo commented, "You're late."

"What's the meaning of this?" Jazmin demanded looking like she was about to get in his face as she glared at his lack of honor, and she was inwardly proud to see him shiver a little at her furious look, "It hasn't been a half hour yet!"

"Too bad," Kemo shrugged carelessly, "Pegasus sets the schedule here."

"But you have to call the boat back," Mokuba said as he let go of Stephanie's hand to show him the Star Chips, "I need to return that kid's Star Chips!" Kemo just smirked and slapped Mokuba's hand, making everyone gasp as the chips went flying into the water.

"Hey!" Liliya shouted in anger, fists clenched, making the water toss, "Some of those were Yugi's, you-you...jerk!"

"Then he should learn to keep hold of his valuables better," Kemo chuckled uncaringly, before grabbing Mokuba by the waist with one arm, "Now if you don't mind, this little brat is a guest of Mr. Pegasus and has been invited to a special dinner in his honor." No one liked the look of pure fear on Mokuba's face.

"Yugi...Pinkamena...help me!" Mokuba whimpered. "Put him down!" Stephanie demanded angrily. "No," Kemo stated, "You might be able to boss them around," Jerked his head at the disguised Gems, who were growling and glaring at him, "But you don't scare me, little girl."

"Then you won't mind dueling me," Yugi stepped in glaring venomously as he stepped next to Stephanie, "If I win, you let Mokuba go, I still have three Star Chips left."

"If you want to risk your Star Chips for this run, then fine by me," Kemo scoffed making the teens and Gems growl warningly, which he ignored, "Follow me to duel arena 146, you'll get your duel."

"Kemo," Yugi called when the man started to walk away, when the guard looked at him, he shivered at the pure rage in Yugi's eyes as he added, "Talk like that to _Hime_ again and even Pegasus won't be able to save you." Stephanie blushed a little despite herself.

"Jazmin, Liliya, get Leon back," Stephanie told the two. "Right," They nodded. "How are they going tah do that?" Joey asked not knowing their secret, "It's well out to see."

"I'll be fine Joey," Liliya assured with a smile, stretching lightly, "I have a rather...special connection to the sea, not as special as Mako's but...I like to think its something..." Joey looked hesitant, but slowly nodded.

"I'll stay here if there's anything I can do to help," Tristan volunteered mostly to help his friend feel better, knowing Joey was torn between making sure Liliya would be okay and giving Yugi support against Kemo. Liliya and Jazmin looked at Stephanie unsurely and she nodded and said, "Leon doesn't deserve to be kicked out just because someone didn't want to play fair."

They nodded in response and the three watched as the group rushed off after Kemo before the guard could vanish from sight.

Turning back to the ocean, Tristan rubbed the back of his head as he squinted at the shape of the boat getting further and further away, asking, "Now what?"

"Now," Liliya said getting his attention, "This." She then glowed a bright blue light, making Tristan yell in shock and nearly fall into the water had Jazmin not grab him.

When the light died down, she still looked mostly the same. The first big difference that Tristan noticed was that her _skin_ was _**blue**_ and her outfit had changed. It was now a two piece outfit of a deeper blue top that was strapless, the actual straps being ribbons that tied in a bow behind her neck with an even darker blue top half of a diamond printed on it, while the skirt, which had the bottom half of the diamond on the front of it, was ankle-length and her shoes and socks were gone.

"I know you have a lot of questions Tristan," Lapis Lazuli said calmly as he stared at her, "And we will answer them when we can, but right now, there's a pebble who needs help." At his stunned nod, she turned her back to him, revealing a tear-drop-shaped cabochon-cut blue gemstone embedded into her back, which glowed before a pair of glossy, rough-looking wings made of water grew from within the stone, stretching and shining beautifully in the sunlight.

With a mighty flap, Lapis was off the ground and soaring after the boat. Tristan stared in stunned silence until Jazmin clapped his shoulder and said, "Let's see if we can't recover some of those Star Chips." Tristan could only nod numbly wading into the water with her to search for the Star Chips.

In the boat, Leon was sniffling sadly, "Zigfried is going to kill me..."

"Leon!" A voice called making the duelists all blink in confusion and look around until noticing a shadow and looked up.

Jaws fell open as Lapis descended, hovering just inches above the water, she flew a little closer and told him, "We got your Star Chips back."

Getting over his shock, Leon smiled widely, "Really?"

Unable to help herself, Lapis smiled back, "Really," She then moved as close as she dared, she opened her arms, "Jump!"

Without hesitation, Leon climbed onto the boat's edge, much to Weevil's alarm. "Hey, wait-!" Weevil shouted trying to grab the redhead, but Leon jumped into Lapis' arms and she held him tight against her as she flew back towards the island, leaving a group of dumbfounded duelists behind.

00000000000000000

"Well, we're here," Joey commented as he, Stephanie, Yugi, Tea, Itzel and Akira got to the arena Kemo had picked, "Now where's antenna head?"

"Yugi! Pink!" They heard Mokuba shout and they looked over to see him struggling in Kemo's grasp, "Make him let go of me!"

"Put him down, NOW!" Stephanie demanded through gritted teeth. "I'll consider it once your friend wins the duel," Kemo responded. "Oh, I'll beat you alright," Yugi stated in a low tone.

"I never said that I was your opponent, he's over there," Kemo stated pointing at the figure already standing at the red platform of the arena, much to their surprise, but the Japanese natives gasped in shock when they saw the figure, "He had an unfortunate end earlier today, but he came back just to duel you." Stephanie covered her mouth in shock at these words as Akira and Itzel stared in disbelieved-shock.

Mokuba had a mixed look of shock, denial, pain and utter disbelief on his face as he demanded, "What did you say?"

"It can't be..." Yugi breathed in shock. "What?" Itzel asked confused. "Who is it?" Akira asked as well. "Kaiba?" Yugi questioned.

The figure chuckled, a lifeless, hollow sound that made the Gems, including Pearl, who continued to watch along side Pegasus, shiver. It was a tall boy the teens' age, just a inch or so taller than Joey with familiar cropped and layered brown hair, but it looked strangely muddy and damp, and his eyes were an unnatural pale blue. His skin was an unhealthy pale and looked clammy, and he wore a blue uniform similar to Joey, Yugi and Tristan, but a little different at the same time, the jacket being buttoned up and looked strangely wet as well.

"Yes Yugi, its me Kaiba," The figure grinned and his voice was strangest part, it sounded like two people were speaking at the same time despite it only being one person; one founded like a normal teenage male with a deep voice, the other was higher-pitched and had an echo-quality and child-like tone to it, "And this time you don't stand...a _ghost_ of a chance..."

He continued to chuckle evilly as everyone continued to stare up at him in shock.

* * *

 **DUH DUH DUUUUUH...! Or however that dramatic sound effect goes lol! I've been looking forward to this part, simply because I love Mokuba as a character, at least, the anime version, not so much as the original manga version, he just loves his brother so much!**

 **Anyways, Tristan is partially in on Stephanie's little secret, but he isn't going to be getting any answers right away! Not until Bakura comes along, anyway.**

 **On top of that, I didn't like how they weren't able to help that kid remain in the tournament, it was just so unfair to me and yeah, I switched the nameless kid from the anime with Leon from the KaibaCorp Tournament later in the series, you know, the little cutie pie with the Fairy Tale deck. I just had to, he was such a fan of Yugi after this whole debacle on Duelist Kingdom, I thought it would be an interesting twist if he had actually been in the tournament to see Yugi in action for himself, just to make the admiration a little more grounded in a sense, I know the aging might be a bit off for some, but remember, Leon's been harold as a dueling prodigy in his debut, so its not too far fetched that Pegasus would invite him as we don't know just how early in life Leon had been showcasing these prodigy skills.**

 **On that note, we got our first song of the crossover, Avaloran Lullaby from the TV show Elena of Avalor, just with a word or two to fit the whole Gem kind and termnilogy, it it makes any sense. Now before you get all Negative Nancy on me, lullabies aren't just for helping little ones fall asleep, they are also sung to help calm them down as Mokuba clearly needed and I can see Steven using a song to try a cheer someone up.**

 **While I'm the subject of songs, let me know if you guys having anything in particular you'd like to see included, for a pairing moment or otherwise, just include the pairing with the song.**

 **Also, let me know what you guys think of Pearl's new look, didn't want to take too far, but, I think its not all that bad.**

 **Well, until next time everyone!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own YuGiOh nor their original characters nor do I own Steven Universe and any of its original characters, cause if I did, Pink would've found a way to be able to exist at the same time with Steven and she would've come clean about everything with her team! But, hey, a girl can dream.**

 **I have seen the season finale of season five and I'm not spoiling anything, other than it isn't really going to do major plot-dams with the story for when we eventually get there. Other than that, I got nothing to say, so I'm just going to go ahead with the review-replies:**

 **LegionnaireBlaze: Glad you like the story so far, hope you like this chapter too, and trust me, Pegasus is going to get his just desserts soon enough, maybe not in this arch, but he will.**

 **foxchick1: This is just how Steven(Stephanie) Universe effects the original Yu-Gi-Oh, I haven't started the reverse yet! Hope you like this chapter!**

 **suntan140: Would that be 'So This is Love'? Its really the only Cinderella song I can think of that would count as a couple-song, including the 2015 version. If you have any other suggestions, like for Yugi X Stephanie, let me know or any other type of couple for that matter.**

 **Now, let's get on with it, shall we?**

* * *

Within the small clearing, standing before the arena, Yugi, Stephanie, Mokuba, Tea, Joey, Itzel and Akira continued to stare up at the tall brunette standing in the red platform in undisguised shock and confusion. Yet, it was only the human teens and the sole hybrid had a sense of dread in their chests from the implications of Kemo's prior words.

"There is...no way...that thing is Kaiba," Joey said in disbelief before glaring at Kemo, "It just can't be!"

Tea whimpered a little at the utterly dead look in the so-called Kaiba's eyes, "But it looks...so much like him..."

"That's because he is Kaiba," Kemo stated matter of factly, before adding callously, "Two witnesses saw him fall to his death just moments earlier." Everyone gasped in shock, including Pearl, who was overhearing everything alongside Pegasus.

"Lair!" Mokuba yelled in denial, hitting Kemo with his fists, but it was in vain as the man didn't ease his grip in the slightest and just kept smirking, "Take back what you said!" Stephanie eyes watered in shock and horror as she stared up at the brunette, shivering when she saw how his eyes lingered on her longer then they had on the others.

Yugi noticed how 'Kaiba' seemed to be staring at Stephanie and frowned as he stepped to hide her from the brunette's view, Kaiba just smirked.

"Get used to it," Kemo told Mokuba carelessly, "The only thing left of Kaiba is your memories, plus a very cranky ghost just looking for revenge."

"This is completely illogical!" Akira protested, "Ghosts aren't real! It's completely irrational!"

Itzel whispered to her second shortest comrade, "What's a ghost?"

Akira nearly fell over in surprise before remembering the rainbow-haired Gem-turned-human was completely new to humans and their ways, so she briefly thought it over before whispering back, "A spirit of the fallen." Now Itzel looked even more freaked out.

"It's not Kaiba," Joey insisted more firmly, "Sure, he lost a duel, but Kaiba's way too level-headed tah do what yer sayin' he did."

"Think what you want," Kemo shrugged him off, making Joey grit his teeth, "But now its time to duel with the ghoul."

"It can't be him," Yugi stated just as firm as Joey had been, "It's just one of Pegasus' tricks," He then looked at Mokuba, "Don't worry Mokuba, I'll win your freedom and then we'll find your brother," He then turned to Stephanie, "Are you going to be alright _Hime_?" She nodded hesitantly.

000000000000000000000

Pegasus just chuckled as he and Pearl watched the scenes unfold. Pearl clutched her hands together in worry, having also seen how the new human teen had lingered his gaze on her baby and didn't like it one bit, she hated to think what would happen if Yugi lost.

"I just love reality TV," Pegasus remarked before taking a sip of his wine as Pearl silently glared at him, wishing she wasn't bound with the darn collar. "Who is Yugi dueling?" Croquet asked as he wheeled in a tray with another bottle of wine for his boss.

"It's Kaiba," Pegasus answered, "Or at least...what's left of him, which is a real shame, the boy had so much potential."

Now Pearl couldn't stay silent, "Pegasus what did you do? The only one that had the power to bring back the dead, at least, organic wise, was-" Unfortunately for her, she cut herself off unwittingly with both hands slapping over her mouth, but she continued to glare questioningly at the silver-haired human, who just chuckled.

"How did you...?" Croquet asked also confused. "I can't take all the credit, Rose Quartz taught me more than she bargained for," Pegasus stated as he leaned back in his chair, "Plus, Yugi played his fair share as well, and to return the favor, I will teach both him and little Stephanie the real power of the Millennium Items."

Pearl returned her attention to the screen worriedly as Yugi took his place in the blue platform.

0000000000000

"Why Yugi, look as if you've seen a ghost," The ghoul said in its disembodied voice, taking a tone of faux concern, before smirking wickedly, "I am no longer of this world, and its all because of you," Yugi grit his teeth as he glared at it, "I could have had it all, but when you beat me, you took more than just that match, you destroyed my life and crushed my spirit."

"You are nothing more than an impostor," Yugi told him in a no nonsense type of voice, clearly about to lose his patience, "So stop the lies and let's start the duel."

"Fine by me," The ghoul replied calmly as the drew their beginning hand, "But this time, you won't beat my cards."

"You might look like Kaiba," Yugi rebuffed as their life points were set, "But there is no way you can imitate his deck."

"You mean _my_ deck," The ghoul replied taking off the three Star Chips on its Dueling Glove, "Three Star Chips is what I'll set down."

"Fine by me," Yugi said calmly, doing the same, "That means when this duel is over, I'll have six."

"Let's duel,' The ghoul declared before turning to Kemo, "Once I defeat Yugi, Pegasus can have KaibaCorp, all I want is revenge," Kemo smirked in response, but it fell when the brunette added, eyes drifting over their miniature audience, "Plus one little thing..."

Kemo got nervous and a little angry, "Now wait, that wasn't part of the..."

"Now, I'm not asking for much, in fact, Pegasus just might find it helpful to his plans," The ghoul plaited making the watching billionaire arch a brow, "The chance to beat Yugi..." He then pointed at Stephanie, "And her!" Stephanie's eyes widened in shock with a startled gasp.

"WHAT?" Everyone else shouted, including Pearl who was also appalled. Pegasus leaned forward in thought.

Itzel quickly got between the possibly insane brunette and her leader's daughter, glaring enraged, "Keep her out of this!"

"Why should I?" The ghoul shrugged carelessly, "The afterlife can be a rather...lonely place, I could use a songbird to keep me entertained."

Yugi glared, also enraged, scratch that, he looked downright murderous as he all but screamed, "She is not some object to be gambled with!"

"Those are my terms, the Star Chips and her," The ghoul stated. Suddenly, Stephanie's earrings and gemstone glowed brightly, the white and pink lights emerging into one as she called out, "DAIYAMONDORAITO!" Catching everyone by surprise as she became her other self again.

Pearl gasped as the diamond-shaped sparkles washed off the now taller girl in a very familiar way, hands covering her mouth in utter shock, _'P-P-P-Pink?!'_

"Yugi," Stephanie called up, hugging herself as she caught his eyes. Yugi was very hesitant to agree to such obviously barbaric terms and she honestly found it chivalrous and endearing, how he refused to treat her like an object, but for Mokuba's sake, she was willing to put up with it as she assured him, "It's fine."

The others gasped in shock that she was agreeing to this, Joey being the one to ask, "Pink have you gone nuts?"

"You can't!" Akira protested. "Did you hear what he said?" Tea asked in disbelief, "What he wants?"

"I heard," Stephanie assured as she met the ghouls eyes and she narrowed her cold gaze at him, her gemstone giving a faint glow under her shirt as she saw a strange, dark aura around him that was tinged with a sickly green and purple, something felt off with this so called 'ghost', she then looked at Mokuba and gave him a soft, reassuring smile when he looked her in the eyes, but then she told Yugi and the ghoul, "I accept those terms in exchange that if Yugi wins, Mokuba goes free."

"Pink..." Yugi muttered uncertainly but had no choice as the ghoul smirked and laughed in his triumph.

 **Yugi LPs: 2000**

 **Ghoul LPs: 2000**

"Kick his butt Yugi!" Joey told him. "But be careful," Stephanie added, "Who knows what tricks he has up his sleeve."

0000000

Meanwhile, Jazmin and Tristan had waded into the shallows of the water and were crouched, feeling around and searching with critical eyes for the seven Star Chips Kemo had knocked i=out of Mokuba's hands. Tristan had rolled up his pant legs and jacket sleeves, Jazmin hadn't bothered.

"So..." Tristan said nervously, "Do this sorta thing...often...?" Jazmin didn't even glance at his way, but he started rambling anyways, "Not that there's anything wrong with looking for cool things on the shoreline! I wish I could do this sorta thing more!"

Jazmin finally arched a brow at him skeptically, "Are you done?"

Tristan flinched a little before muttering loud enough for her to hear, "Kinda...yeah..."

They kept looking for a few more seconds when Tristan started again, "So..."

"Found them," Jazmin interrupted much to Tristan's surprise. "Really?" Tristan asked wadding over but kept a fair distance.

"Yep," Jazmin stated holding out her hand for him to see the familiar gold stars in her hand, "Looks like Star Chips to me."

"But that's only four," Tristan said in dismay. "The tide must've gotten the rest of them," Jazmin shrugged helplessly.

"Hey!" A voice called making them turn to see Lapis flying over with Leon secured tight in her arms, the little redhead waving at them. "You got him!" Tristan grinned as they wadded over to the dock and pulled themselves up as Lapis landed gracefully on her feet.

"You okay kid?" Tristan asked as Lapis set Leon down. "Yeah, you feeling okay pebble?" Jazmin added in concern.

Leon nodded, "I feel a lot better thanks to my Fairy Godmother!" Much to the two's confusion.

"Fairy..." Tristan asked confused. "What now?" Jazmin asked lost and Lapis just shrugged, also clueless.

"Fairy Godmother!" Leon answered. "Kid, I got no clue what you're talking about," Tristan said still confused.

"Don't you read fairy-tales?" Leon replied looking at Tristan as if he had grown a second-head, "Fairy Godmothers are really nice and pretty female fairies who come to help people in trouble!" He then hugged a startled Lapis by one of her legs through her skirt, "And fairies have wings! So she has to be a fairy!" He looked up at Lapis with big, hopeful eyes, "Right, Fairy Godmother?" Lapis looked a little lost of what to do, as she had never heard of fairy tales or fairy godmothers before, but knew for a fact that wasn't what she was, but her face was turning purple since he had basically called her pretty and a protector of sorts.

Plus those eyes were making it a bit hard for her to tell him otherwise, so she looked to Tristan and Jazmin for help, but both looked rather amused by the kid's explanation. Tristan was actually covering his grin and smothering his laughter visibly with a hand over his mouth. So much for them.

Looking back at those big eyes, she smiled uneasily as she decided to take a note out of Stephanie's book and played along, but told him, "When I look like this, call me Lapis, okay?" He nodded with a big smile, before she changed back into Liliya, "But when I look like this, you need to call me Liliya, okay?" Again, Leon nodded obediently.

"Okay," Leon said before turning to Jazmin and Tristan with the same big, but curious eyes, asking innocently, "Are you fairies too?" Tristan squawked in shock, nearly falling back into the water had Jazmin not caught him by the jacket with her free hand.

"Not quite little pebble," Jazmin smirked before kneeling down and held out her hand, "I believe these are yours."

Leon looked to see what she was holding and gasped, "My Star Chips!" He looked up at her, "But I lost five..."

"I'm afraid the guard made them fall into the water, along with two of one of our friends," Tristan said with a mild frown, trying not to get the kid upset, "These were all we managed to save."

"Oh..." Leon said as he carefully took them, but then looked concerned, "But what about your friend?"

"Don't worry about Yug'," Tristan tried to reassure, "If I know him, he'll be replacing those Star Chips in record time."

Leon seemed to think the answer over before accepting it, "Okay," He then got an excited smile on his face as he started asking questions, "So, if you're not fairies, then what are you? You're not goblins are you? You're too nice to be mean goblins."

Tristan chuckled nervously, unsure how to take the compliment before looking to the two females and Liliya just shrugged before making a 'go on' gesture. The brunette sighed as he admitted, "To tell ya the truth Leon, I'm just an ordinary guy who got roped into..." He again looked at the two women with a vague uncertainty, "Whatever this all is..."

"Oh..." Leon blinked but then smiled, "That's okay, cause normal people can be heroes too!" Now it was Tristan's turn to blink in surprise, but he smiled a little despite his situation.

He then remembered, "Yugi! The duel! We gotta go!"

"We're not leaving the kid to get arm-stronged again," Jazmin stated before picking up Leon, who yelped in surprise and settled him on her shoulder, he held on by gripping her voluminous hair, not that it bothered her, "Now we can go."

Tristan and Liliya nodded with serious expressions, "Right!" As one, they all took off to find the arena.

"Hey, is the pretty girl in pink a fairy too?" Leon asked curiously, "If she's your boss, does that make a princess or something?"

Liliya chuckled, "I...wouldn't exactly call her that..." Jazmin made no comment, not knowing what a princess even was and Tristan made no comment as he had none to make, not knowing Stephanie well enough to say so.

0000000000000

"I guess I'll go first," 'Kaiba' said as he drew before playing a card, "And I'll play Hitotsu-Mi Giant." Yugi, Tea, Joey and Mokuba gasped as a humanoid creature that could only be described as a muscular cyclops with green skin wearing a blackish-blue loincloth appeared on the tall brunette's field.

 **Hitotsu-Me Giant. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: BEAST-WARRIOR. Lv: 4. ATK/DEF: 1200/1000**

"That doesn't prove anything, lots of people have that card," Joey said in denial, "It could be any deck, Kaiba's alive and that ain't him!" Mokuba didn't look entirely convinced though.

 _'That's the exact same card Kaiba played in our first duel,'_ Yugi thought as he drew his next card, _'He's just trying to confuse me, but it won't work, I won't fail not with what's on the line,'_ He then summoned his own, more familiar monster, "I'll destroy your monster with the Dark Magician!" A gold light lit the square and with a dramatic flip-mid air, the purple-clad spellcaster appeared on the field staff at the ready.

 **Dark Magician. ATK/DEF: 2500/2100**

With a twirl of his staff and a large ball of black magic, the Dark Magician blew the opposing monster to smithereens, eliciting cheers from Itzel, Akira, Tea and Joey. Mokuba was too disturbed by the ghoul to cheer and Stephanie merely smiled at the victory, however small as the ghoul's life points dropped.

 **Ghoul LPs: 700**

Despite her position, Pearl gave a soft cheer, swinging her arms much like Amethyst would for a wrestling match, happy for such a well off start for the tri-haired human. Pegasus just arched a brow at her but said nothing.

"Clearly you are stronger then our last encounter, but don't think for a moment you can beat me," The ghoul said with a growing smirk on its face, "Surely you and our friends can see that I am indeed Kaiba, so just admit it and admit your defeat."

"Ugh...what is he talking about?" Akira asked lost on what the ghoul was going about now. "Yeah, Yugi already wiped out a good chunk of his life points on his first turn," Itzel added also lost.

"I think he means that Yugi can't win without the Exodia cards," Tea said, "Even if Pink did manage to save them, they're still ruined and unplayable."

"But how on Earth could he know that?" Joey asked lost as he pointed out, "He wasn't on the boat when Weevil tossed the cards into the ocean."

00000000

Meanwhile, back in Japan at a rather large house, two of Pegasus' goons stood guard at the iron gates as the real Seto Kaiba hid behind a nearby tree. He smirked, remembering how he had grabbed a ledge near the midway of the cliff when he had jumped, keeping him well hidden from the thugs. Kaiba snuck around a corner of the wall and climbed over into the gardens, he spotted a chain in the long grass and pulled it, lifting open a secret entrance into an underground bunker of sorts.

He walked down the steps into a small library, only to walk up to the bookcase and pull a book, causing the shelf to slide to the side, revealing a hi-tech, hidden door. He leaned forward towards a circular device, allowing a light to scan his eye before it allowed him inside where a rather large computer with three screens were built into the wall before one desk and chair.

He sat down and powered up the computer and put a headset on as the computer spoke in a female voice, "Running identity verification protocol, please state your name."

"Seto Kaiba," He told the computer, which beeped before the screens turned on. "And here I thought I'd seen it all," The computer remarked, "But having to break into your own house?"

"Its too long a story for right now," Kaiba answered. "Too long a story?" The computer huffed, "Well maybe I'm not in a talkative mood myself."

"Somehow I doubt that," Kaiba muttered shaking his head, "Remind me why I installed this program again?"

"You were sorely lacking in a female to talk to," The computer replied cheekily making him groan and roll his eyes in annoyance, "Anyways, while you were off gallivanting who-knew-where, a hostile take over of KaibaCorp has begun."

"I know and at the same time Pegasus began his Duelist Kingdom Tournament, he wants to defeat Yugi either by himself or by someone representing him," Kaiba stated with a flair of confidence in his voice, "If that happens then the Big Five scumbags will hand my company over to him, but Yugi won't lose," His smirk turned bitter-sweet, "He can't when he has Exodia waiting patiently in the wings." While the lose to said card at the aforementioned duelist's hands still stung, it helped prolong the chance of Pegasus beating him, which prevented him from gaining KaibaCorp, so for now Kaiba wasn't gonna complain.

"Well, I hate to break it to ya, but shortly after he defeated you, Yugi nearly lost Exodia, the cards were safely recovered by some music CEO's daughter, Pinkamena Roza Diamonde, but they're ruined and unplayable," The computer informed him, "When it rains, it pours, Pegasus knows that the KaibaCorp bylaws that he needs a living Kaiba heir to make any changes of control legal; he's taken Mokuba prisoner and now if he defeats Yugi, he'll be able to put all kinds of pressure on Mokuba to get what he wants."

"They'll keep Mokuba safe until Pegasus gets control of KaibaCorp, until then, I can't allow Pegasus to defeat Yugi," Kaiba said worried for his brother, but kept his focus on his current task, "Its time for my version of a takeover, we're going to hack right into Duelist Kingdom!" But then he blinked when something finally registered in his head, his tone turned confused as he asked out of the blue, "Pinkamena?"

"Yeah?" The computer asked. " _Pinkamena?_ " Kaiba repeated still looking thrown for a loop, which was quite the sight in the computer's opinion.

"Yes," The computer replied. " ** _Pink_** amena?" Kaiba asked surprise turning into disbelief, "What kind of a name is that?" He then scrunched his nose, "And Diamonde? I've never heard of it!" He then made wide hand gestures, "Who basically names their kid after a stupid fancy rock?" The computer wisely didn't make a comment.

0000000000

Back on Duelist Kingdom, Stephanie sneezed cutely, making everyone save Kemo and the ghoul say, "Bless you."

The ghoul then drew his next card and smirked, "This next card will blow you away Yugi, it's a blast from the past, with the emphasis on blast!" He then turned the card in his hand so Yugi could see the picture, making the tri-haired teen gasp in shock at the familiar white dragon.

Playing the card, the ghoul announced, "I call forth the Blue Eyes White Dragon!" The other teens, the younger Kaiba and the sole hybrid all gasped in shock as the dragon appeared with an almighty, earth-shaking roar that sent a shiver up Akira and Itzel's spines. It had the sleekest, shiniest scales they had ever seen, being an ivory white in color, it had a pair of matching, bat-like wings and a long armor-plated tail, its claws having three digits and were small, like a T-Rex, while its legs were large to match the rest of its body. Its neck was also plated and its head was smooth with fin-like flaps on the back of its lower jaw and its eyes were the clearest shade of blue.

 **Blue Eyes White Dragon. Attribute: LIGHT. Tribe: DRAGON. Lv: 8. ATK/DEF: 3000/2500**

"That things a powerhouse!" Akira shouted in shock cowering behind a stunned, yet awed Itzel. "It's...beautiful..." Itzel breathed in awe as it let loose another roar.

00000000000

"Are you sure they went this way?" Liliya asked as she, Jazmin, who still carried Leon, and Tristan tried to find the others. "I-" Tristan started but was cut off by the roar of a familiar dragon, which made Tristan freeze for a moment, eyes widening in shock.

"What the heck was that?" Jazmin asked in shock. "It sounded like a dragon," Leon said with wide eyes.

"The Blue Eyes White Dragon..." Tristan said in shock before running towards the sound, "This way!"

"Tristan!" Liliya shouted after him as they hurried to follow and keep him in sight, "Wait!"

0000000000000

"Don't feel bad Yugi, my feelings weren't hut when you called me a lair," The ghoul continued to speak, "You won't believe what I save in food bills alone, but I still enjoy the finer things in life," He then smirked, "Like revenge."

"Shut up! Please make him go away!" Mokuba pleaded with tears in his eyes, covering his ears to try and block out the ghoul, "Make him go away!"

"Almost breaks my heart..." The ghoul smirked cruelly, "Good thing I don't have one anymore."

Stephanie glared up at him, "You're horrible!"

"Now that's not nice," The ghoul replied uncaringly.

0000000000000

Back with the real Kaiba and his computer, they had successfully hacked into the Duelist Kingdom systems.

"I expected there to be more security, looks like when it comes to computer duels Pegasus doesn't stand a chance," Kaiba remarked, "Now let's search for Yugi, he's sure to be dueling by now."

"You got it," The computer answered and began to access information about Yugi, only for the screens to flash red with a stop sign, "Access denied! I found all the security alright, and its all around Yugi's data, and data about a Stephanie Quartz-Universe." Kaiba arched a brow at the second name, but didn't focus on it.

"Seems Pegasus isn't as dumb as I thought, I'm going to take over manually for a while," Kaiba said pressing keys at a quick rate, "All the data on the island is beamed to an Industrial Illusions satellite which is then transferred to their main computer."

"But how do you plan to hack into their systems when I failed?" The computer asked skeptically. "Simple, we're going to use Pegasus' own satellite against him," Kaiba answered, "Prepare a search for the Dark Magician, once we access the data, we'll begin searching. If Yugi's dueling he's _bound_ to play that card."

"Roger," The computer replied as a small image of the Dark Magician appeared on one of the screens, "Dark Magician search inquiry standing by.

"Good, now then, let's hack into the satellite," Kaiba said with a smirk as he hacked into the satellite that currently orbiting the earth, "Let this put you on notice Pegasus, KaibaCorp is still mine." He pressed the final key and watched with immense satisfaction as the satellite began plummeting towards the Industrial Illusions' Duelist Kingdom main computer before crashing and smashing the computer to bits.

0000000000000

Back with Yugi and the duel with the ghoul, said ghoul smirked viciously as the Blue Eyes hissed at the Dark Magician, who stared it down fearlessly, "I won't attack just yet, why rush to revenge when I can savor it?" He then placed a card face down.

 _'He wants me to fall for his face-down card, it must be a magic card,'_ Yugi thought before changing his magician's card's position, "Dark Magician to defense mode," Dark Magician obediantly dropped to one knee, bringing his staff up across his chest, "And I summon Curse of Dragon on the defense as well." His own yellow dragon appeared with its wings curled around itself in a protective position.

 **Curse of Dragon. ATK/DEF: 2000/1500**

"A smart strategy Yugi, unfortunately you've fallen right into my trap, Defense Paralysis," The ghoul said turning his face-down over and both of Yugi's monsters were forced into attack position, "Now Blue Eyes use your White Lightning and destroy Yugi's Curse of Dragon!" His dragon charged a bright light within its mouth before releasing a steady blast of white electricity, which made Itzel and Akira freeze up with terror as it flew across the field and destroyed the smaller, yellow dragon, cutting Yugi's life points in half as they dropped.

 **Yugi LPs: 1000**

"Yugi!" His friends and Mokuba called out in concern.

000000000000

Meanwhile, Kaiba and his computer were searching through all the active duel arenas for Yugi, until the computer informed him, "There's only one active field left, arena one hundred and forty-six."

"Then Yugi's got to be in there, enter the field!" Kaiba ordered only for his computer to crash, "Reboot!" His computer did so and tried to enter the field again, only to crash once again, "Ah, a virus, a good one too, it seems searching for Yugi's Dark Magician triggered it."

"Then what can we do?" His computer asked him. "Simple, we blast the door off its hinges," Kaiba answered as a stick of dynamite appeared on the screen and it blew the virtual door to pieces. Once the virtual smoke cleared, Kaiba saw a large fortress in the middle of the ocean. Strangely though, it was built with two different martial; one half was normal bricks, looking as it were carved from stone, its tower having blue tiles for the roof, the other half was made of well-polished, white stone like a castle out of a fantasy-world, complete with pink tiles for the tower roof, it even had a little balcony at the top, as if it were a princess tower.

"All of the data for Yugi and this Stephanie girl are inside that fortress, my sensors never lie," His computer told him, "Nothing will break through this door except the password."

"The password is Pegasus," Kaiba stated matter-of-factly, "If I know that egomaniac at all, then I'm right." Sure enough, the twin-colored double-doors of the two-toned fortress slowly opened.

"You were right about the password, the fortress is unlocked," His computer told him, "Yugi's data, as well as this girl's, is accessible to us and its his turn."

000000000000

Sure enough, back with the duel, it was Yugi's turn as he drew a new card.

"Hey Yugi," Kemo commented with a ruthless grin and callous laugh, "You got to admit for a stiff, this Kaiba sure got game."

"THAT IS NOT MY BROTHER! THERE'S JUST NO WAY!" Mokuba broke down tears streaming down his face with slightly broken eyes and all but screamed as he once again tried to hit Kemo, but again it did no good, Yugi stared down at Mokuba with wide eyes, "Yugi, you know that isn't him! Everyone thinks he's a bad guy, but he's not! I know my brother and he's not mean like this!" Stephanie closed her eyes in attempt to fight away her tears, her heart going out to the ravenette, his words making her think of Amethyst, "He's my bestest friend in the whole world; that thing's not him! You just have to believe me!"

 _'I wish I could be as sure as you are Mokuba,'_ Yugi thought warily as he looked at the smirking ghoul, _'But right now, I don't know what to think...'_

Seeing he wasn't convinced, Mokuba turned his pleading eyes to Stephanie as she finally opened her own again as he pleaded, "Pinkamena, please...believe me!"

Stephanie closed her eyes again, wanting to believe him, but she didn't know much about either Kaiba brother outside from what she'd see and hear from the media, which wasn't very flattering to the elder of the two. But the way he spoke reminded her of herself when she would defend Amethyst from Pearl's overbearing lectures. It left her torn. It left her looking deep down for some reason to believe him.

When she looked at the ghoul again and again, saw that strange aura, she looked back at Mokuba, who looked ready to break down and cry and she smiled reassuringly, "I do, Mokuba." Everyone looked at her in shock.

"Guess I'll have to knock some sense into you first when this is all over," The ghoul commented unabashedly at her, earning a hard glare from both her and Yugi. "This duel isn't over yet!" Yugi exclaimed recapturing the ghoul's attention as he played a magic card, "Magical Hats, conceal the Dark Magician!"

Four large black, old-fashioned top hats with white and red checkered bands with big, bold yellow question marks appeared on the field, hiding the Dark Magician from view. The ghoul gasped in surprise.

But that surprise turned into amusement, "Are you so desperate that your having your Dark Magician perform simple hat tricks?"

But Yugi didn't raise to the bait, "Its not a trick and its not so simple," The ghoul arched a brow, but Yugi just shrugged, "Do the math; four hats, one shot, only a twenty-five percent chance you'll find the Dark Magician," Yugi had commented this with a smirk that made the ghoul growl in frustration, "But the real question is; else is lurking beneath these hats." Stephanie smiled as the ghoul's eyes widened at the suggestion, finding the trick amusing.

"Yeah!" Joey cheered, "Now that's what I call pullin' one outta yer hat!"

"Blue Eyes White Dragon, attack!" The ghoul shouted and his dragon fired another blast of energy at one of the hats, but when the smoke cleared. he growled, "No, that hat was empty."

"Phew, that was close," Akira sighed almost literally dropping onto her knees from relief. "I think Yug can win this now," Joey added also relieved, "He has a chance."

"As much as I love your optimism Joey, I'm just not sure," Tea replied. "Well, right now, optimism's all we got," Itzel pointed out.

"GUYS!" A voice called out making everyone blink and look to see the missing trio plus one passenger running towards them.

"Tristan, Liliya, Jazmin!" Joey and Akira grinned as Yugi looked over with a smile, especially at seeing Leon with them. "You got him back!" Tea added happily much to Kemo's shock to see the redheaded boy he had sent away on the boat sitting on the tall woman's shoulder.

"But how?" Kemo demanded, "The boat was far out to sea!" Liliya just smirked at him and winked, making him growl, much to Mokuba's amusement, also relieved to see Leon back in the tournament.

"Leon," Stephanie smiled as Jazmin gently set the boy down, "Its nice to see you back."

Leon smiled widely with an agreeing nod, once again hugging Liliya around the leg through her skirt, "All thanks to Fairy Godmother, and her elf and her giant!" Tristan nearly fell over anime-style, being able to guess who was the 'elf' and who was the 'giant', Jazmin just chuckled.

"Fairy Godmother?" Joey asked confused. "Long story," Liliya said blushing a little.

"Wait...is that..." Tristan asked in shock as he noticed the ghoul, "...Kaiba?" The ghoul glanced at him with dead blue eyes and it made him shiver.

"Who?" Liliya and Jazmin asked confused as Leon looked up at the brunette with wide, awed eyes, but was also disturbed and frightened at the same time as he clung to Liliya. "Long story, but I don't believe that's the real Kaiba for a minute!" Joey huffed glaring at the ghoul, who smirked as his eyes once again lingered on Stephanie, who glared icily back, "And it turns out Yug' has to duel him to free Mokuba."

"To make things worse, the creep added to the gamble," Tea added putting an arm around Stephanie's shoulders in a comforting, yet protective gesture as she glared wearily at the ghoul, "If Kaiba wins, Kemo doesn't just take Mokuba away, but that psycho says he'll take Pink too!"

The reaction was immediate in a three-voiced-synced, "WHAT?!"

Leon was also wide-eyed, "He can't!"

Jazmin, much to Stephanie and the other two shorter Gems surprise, blocked Stephanie from the ghoul's sights, growling, "Over my shards!"

The ghoul just grinned evilly as he replied in kind, "That could be arranged..." Akira and Stephanie gasped in shock as Liliya and Itzel flanked Jazmin with fierce expressions.

"You have to beat me first," Yugi called to the ghoul, regaining the brunette's attention, "And I've added a little surprise into the mix, if you attack the wrong hat this time, you'll activate the trap card I've just set on the field."

"Careful Yug'," Joey warned, "He might get lucky next time!"

"Blue Eyes White Dragon attack the middle hat!" The ghoul ordered and his dragon obeyed, this time Jazmin and Liliya was frozen with terror at the white electricity, which destroyed the middle hat. "Well, now you've done it, you've activated my trap," Yugi stated as the dust settled to reveal a circle made of glowing blue and green energy that was floating, "The Spellbinding Circle!"

The circle sped forth and ensnared itself around the Blue Eyes' torso and began to cackle with energy. "What's going on?" Itzel asked confused. "I know that card," Joey said, "It lowers the attacking monster's attack points!" Sure enough, the dragon's power lowered.

 **Blue Eyes White Dragon. ATK/DEF: 2300/2500**

"Normally a Blue Eyes White Dragon is unstoppable," Yugi said, "But once its drained of its power by my Spellbinding Circle, its no match for the full power of my Dark Magician!" The Dark Magician emerged from the hat he was hiding under and launched a ball of dark magic at the dragon, destroying it.

"Yeah!" Everyone bellow cheered as the ghoul's life points dropped.

 **Ghoul LPs: 500**

"Go Yugi!" Mokuba added only for another Blue Eyes White Dragon to appear and obliterate Yugi's magician, much to everyone's shock. "But he just destroyed that thing!" Akira protested thinking the ghoul had somehow cheated or the system was malfunctioning.

"No, no, this isn't right," Stephanie said in shock. "What?" Jazmin asked as Yugi's life points dropped to be equally with the ghoul's.

 **Yugi LPs: 500**

"There are only three Blue Eyes White Dragon cards in existence in all the world and they're all in my deck," The ghoul stated much to the Gems' shock, "Your grandfather had the forth one, but I ripped it up," Now it was Stephanie's turn to be shocked, hands flying to her mouth with wide eyes, "The only way I could possibly know that is if I were the real Seto Kaiba, still believe I'm a fake?"

Mokuba stared up at the figure with wide horrified and near broke eyes as the teens and Stephanie stared in utter shock, no one was able to come up with an answer.

0000000000

"Print up the Quartz-Universe girl's data, maybe I can use it later," Kaiba ordered and the computer did as it was told, printing the information it had gathered on the girl in question, including a candid photo of her at what looked like a ballet class as she was wearing a tutu and slippers. "We've successfully managed to download all of the data on Yugi," The computer told him.

"Show it to me on screen," Kaiba told the computer and the information on the duel as well as a digital grid of the field appeared on the screens, which was when Kaiba noticed the name of Yugi's opponent, "Is this some kind of joke? Why is his opponent labelled as me?"

"I don't know, but the impostor somehow stole your deck to use and has his second Blue Eyes White Dragon on the field," The computer informed him, "Yugi defeated the first one with a combination of the Dark Magician, the Magician Hats and Spellbinding Circle, both duelists' life points are the same and its Yugi's move and he had no cards to play."

"But without Exodia in fighting condition, Yugi can't win," Kaiba said worried, "He doesn't have any more monsters in his deck that can defeat the other two Blue Eyes White Dragons," He clenched his fist, "We have to do something."

"Shouldn't we wait to see Yugi's next move first?" The computer inquired. "No, he'll be wiped out on the next turn if we don't do something quick," Kaiba answered before ordering, "Upload a virus into that dragon's holo-computer, its about to get real sick."

"Viral injection underway," The computer replied as it started to upload the virus. Kaiba watched both the screen with the loading bar and the screen with the duel as Yugi played the Feral Imp in attack mode.

"I wish he had waited a few more seconds before making amove," He said anxiously, "Can't you go any faster with this upload?"

"Keep your pants on, we're already at fifty percent, this is as fast as I can go," The computer rebuffed him as the virus kept going, "Viral infection at sixty percent and climbing."

"But nothing seems to be happening," Kaiba muttered with worry in his eyes, "The Blue Eyes is showing no signs of being affected," His eyes widened, "Something's wrong."

0000000000000

Back on the island, the ghoul chuckled to himself at his apparent well in reach victory, "This is almost too easy," He then shouted, "It is time Blue Eyes White Dragon, attack!" But his dragon did nothing, "What're you waiting for? Attack!" But instead, it stood rather still as lights began to shoot out of it and it began melting.

"I don't believe this..." Yugi whispered in disbelief as he watched the dragon's attack points begin to drop. "What's going on?" The ghoul exclaimed confused and horrified as everyone stared in shock, "My Blue Eyes White Dragon!"

"This is Kemo to Pegasus," Kemo said into his ear-set phone, "I hope your watching this sir, because we have a big problem."

0000000000000

Within his room with the screen, Pegasus simply watched the chaos unfold with a rather passive expression, while Croquet and Pearl looked both shocked and a bit shaken, Pearl more so than Croquet. "It seems Kaiba is very much still alive," Pegasus commented much to Croquet's added shock. "So that _is_ an impostor!" Pearl shouted, "I knew it!"

0000000000000

"The virus is destroying the monster completely," The computer told Kaiba, who smirked, "And the data of Stephanie Lily Quartz-Universe has been completely printed."

"Alright, let's work on the third dragon," He said before the screen he was looking at froze up, much to his shock, "What's going on?"

"We've been locked out by a remote terminal," His computer answered as several pink bunnies began appearing all over the screens, calling out to Kaiba and blowing raspberries at him, "It looks like we've been hacked."

"Its Pegasus," Kaiba said through gritted teeth but there heard a door behind kicked in from somewhere in the house and knew Pegasus had sent more goons to try and find him.

"The Blue Eyes White Dragon's attack is still holding at two thousand," The computer told him, "And its launching its attack now!"

"No!" Kaiba shouted slamming his fist down on the console, "YUGI!"

0000000000000

Somehow, despite being miles away on the island, Yugi heard Kaiba's call of his name and whispered in surprise, "Kaiba?" The Blue Eyes White Dragon's attack stopped before it could touch his imp, "It stopped...the dragon..." The white beast let outone final roar before it melted completely and exploded in a flash of light.

"This can't be..." The ghoul whispered in shock before holding his head in his hands as he cried out, "Why...why me!"

Akira snorted to Liliya, "And I thought Pearl was dramatic." Making Liliya snort as she threaded a hand through Leon's hair to try and sooth the boy.

"Simple, Kaiba is still alive," Yugi stated, "He stopped you!"

"Silence, I am Kaiba!" The ghoul yelled at him. "Enough; you've played this charade long enough!" Stephanie startled everyone when she called the ghoul out, a look of righteous fury on her face as her earrings glowed, their power focused on the ghoul, forcing the green tinge in its aura to fade, "Now tell us who you really are! We all know you're not Seto Kaiba!"

The ghoul started to laugh as Yugi demanded, "Answer her; who are you?"

"I told you," The ghoul said as it began to change, "I am Kaiba...or at least, I was a part of him..." The figure began to bulge and expand until the form of Seto Kaiba was replaced by a large-set figure with the same clammy skin with beady black eyes and pink hair, wearing a dark indigo cape with a raised collar that had red innings and elbow-long, lavender-grey gloves.

"Recognize me Yugi?" The figure said with a nasal laugh, "I was darkest part of Seto Kaiba that you banished to the Shadow Realm."

Stephanie blinked, intrigued, "The Shadow Realm?" She looked at Akira, Jazmin, Liliya and Itzel if they recognized the term, but they just shrugged cluelessly. So it wasn't a Gem-related thing, that was new.

"And now, I'm back thanks to Pegasus," The ghoul continued with a wicked grin, "And soon, I won't be dependent on him once I anchor myself to Diamonde's earrings." Stephanie instinctively covered one of her earrings at the mention of them.

"ACK!" Akira and Liliya cringed in disgust. "Gross!" Tea added, "That thing is hideous!" Even Itzel and Jazmin looked visibly disturbed.

"I always knew this duel was gonna get ugly," Joey commented, "But I didn't think it'd get that ugly." Tristan and Leon nodded in agreement as Leon tried to hide behind Liliya.

00000000000000

Back at Kaiba's house, Pegasus' thugs finally broke down the door to the secret room, only to find Kaiba gone, the screens all static and the printer empty. "He's not here sir," One of them said to Croquet over a cellphone.

"Search the grounds," Croquet ordered, "Everywhere."

"It seems Yugi's rival has come to his rescue," Pegasus commented after a sip of wine, "This is a turn of events even I didn't anticipate."

"I have some bad new sir, the real Kaiba has eluded us once again," Croquet informed making Pearl smirk, "Had I known he was still alive I would have beefed up security at the Kaiba Mansion."

"That's two escapes this time Croquet," Pegasus tsked, "Must I lock _you_ in the tower?"

"What's wrong Pegasus?" Pearl asked smirking, arms crossed smugly, "Trouble in paradise?" Her answer came in the form of a warning crank on the dial of the remote and she shrunk back in fear, grasping the collar instinctively.

"Get me Kemo on the radio," Pegasus ordered a different guard, who nodded.

000000000000000

With the duel, Kemo's earpiece cackled to life, Pegasus telling him, "Kemo, this is Pegasus, do not lose the younger Kaiba, bring him to me once the duel is over."

"Understood sir," Kemo replied quietly over his earpiece.

"So, what should I call you?" Yugi asked smirking slightly, "I was thinking of monster, but I didn't want to insult the cards," This made even Itzel and Jazmin grin and snicker, "Its your move, you have a whole deck and only one Blue Eyes White Dragon left."

The ghoul drew and chuckled, "Grappler in defense mode." The monster he summoned was a bi-pedaled reptile of a dark indigo color with red shoulder-pads, knee-joins, claws and yellow eyes with the classic reptilian slit-pupils, its tongue being forked and its tail plated.

 **Grappler. Attribute: WATER. Tribe: REPTILE. Lv: 4. ATK/DEF: 1300/1200**

"He's just buyin' himself time tah summon his third Blue Eyes," Joey said with a frown. "Yugi, you need to finish this duel fast!" Liliya called up to the tri-haired duelist, "Before he can summon another of those blasted white dragons!" Remembering Itzel deck was based on said species, she quickly added to the second tallest member of the group, "No offence."

Itzel chuckled, "None taken whatsoever."

Yugi nodded at the blunette, becoming immerse in thought, _'I know, but with his Defense Paralysis trap card on field I can't defend myself from any of his monsters,'_ He then drew his new card and played two cards, "I'll play one card face down and summon Celtic Guardian."

Yugi's monster once again resembled an organic male and like the Dark Magician, was fair skinned, but was an Elvian warrior as opposed to a magician, dressed in a tight-fitting, long-sleeved brown shirt with cream-colored pants and brown leather boots with green armor, a matching helmet with white wing-designs and blue cape armed with only a sword. His hair was chin length and straw-blonde, his eyes a light golden brown and he had purple boomerang-shaped marks under his eyes.

 **Celtic Guardian. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: WARRIOR. Lv: 4. ATK/DEF: 1400/1200**

"Wow..." Akira said with stars in her eyes.

Celtic Guardian then leaped at Grappler, slicing it clean in half. "Ah, parting is such sweet sorrow," The ghoul said in sarcastic and false-sad voice, "Next I play Mystic Horseman in defense mode and play a card face down, just as you did." The monster was a male centaur with blonde and holding a double-edged scythe.

 **Mythic Horseman. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: BEAST. Lv: 4. ATK/DEF: 1300/1550**

 _'Is it a magic card or something else?'_ Yugi wondered as he drew, out loud he said, "I'll play another card face-down and summon the Mystical Elf in attack mode." Yugi summoned another Elvian humanoid, a female with blue skin wearing a full-length, leaf-green dress with wrist-long, billowy, drape-like sleeves that were off-shoulder that was framed in a white, metal winged-design similar to the design of Celtic Guardian's helmet, along with a matching head-ring, long dark blonde hair and her eyes were closed.

 **Mystical Elf. Attribute: LIGHT. Tribe: SPELLCASTER. Lv: 4. ATK/DEF: 800/2000**

"Next I play the Book of Secret Arts to raise her attack and defense points by three hundred," Yugi continued as his female elf began to chant under her breath, enveloping herself in a whitish-blue aura, "My turn is over."

Tristan's cheeks reddened as he looked at Mystical Elf, "She's pretty..." Celtic Guardian snorted with a stern frown aimed at the brunette, making Mystical Elf giggle to herself as Itzel found herself strangely upset by the comment from Tristan, pouting to herself, which made Liliya and Akira giggle to themselves, much to everyone else's confusion, save Stephanie, who grinned widely in amusement as Mystical Elf's power increased a bit.

Leon had wide, awed-eyes at the sight of the blue-skinned elf, saying, "She's beautiful!" Mystical Elf gained a slight blush at the sincere, innocent compliment, which made Celtic Guardian chuckle.

 **Mystical Elf. ATK/DEF: 1100/2300**

"Patience Yugi," The ghoul said, "For it will soon be over," He then looked at his hand, _'Yugi has two cards face-down and three monsters on the field, he must be trying to strengthen his Mythical Elf somehow to withstand the attack of my Mystic Horseman,'_ He then smirked, _'But if I can draw the final Blue Eyes and destroy any of his monsters, he'll lose the duel.'_

"I'm liking the look on that jerk's face less 'n' less," Joey commented noting the smirk on the ghoul's face. "Make your move already you loser!" Mokuba shouted at the ghoul.

"As you wish," The ghoul said drawing his new card, the cried in joy, "Prepare for the Blue Eyes White Dragon!" The third and final Blue Eyes appeared with an almighty roar, making everyone tense in worry, "And unlike the last one, this dragon is at full power and ready to destroy any one of your monsters in one shot."

"Yugi!" Tea and Stephanie cried in worry. "Now my dragon attack with White Lightning!" The ghoul shouted, his dragon roared and fired a blast at Yugi's monsters.

"You've triggered my trap, go Mirror Force!" Yugi declared as the Blue Eyes' attack rebounded towards it and Joey noticed Liliya flinch once again at the word 'mirror'. "Very clever," The ghoul admitted as he flipped over his own trap card, "But I counter with Negate Attack!" A wall of swirling energy formed in front of the dragon, blocking and canceling the attack out.

"It's all over..." Mokuba whispered in defeat. "Oh no it's not," Stephanie suddenly smirked as she crossed her arms in amusement and confidence. "What makes you so sure that your friend is going to win, you pink brat!" Kemo demanded of her.

"What your tone," Jazmin growled in warning. "Simple, Yugi has other face down cards," Stephanie answered, "Plus, from the way he's smirking, I'd say he's about to use them." Sure enough, Yugi was smirking and chuckling.

"Time to end this duel," Yugi stated as he flipped his face down over, revealing a magic card, "Monster Reborn!"

"No!" The ghoul shouted in panicked-shock. "What does that do?" Itzel asked curiously. "It lets the duelist who played it to summon any monster from their graveyard or their opponent's," Stephanie answered calmly, her cold amusement evident.

"I'm glad you clearly know the rules," Yugi said with his own vindictive amusement, "Now be reborn, Blue Eyes White Dragon!" His group let out cheers as the identical white dragon appeared on his field with a roar.

"And what is that going to do for you Yugi?" The ghoul rebuffed, laughing, "Both dragons are equally matched." And it was true, no virus, no traps or spells to effect the stats; the move seemed almost pointless if Yugi wasn't finished.

"You've forgotten about my Mystical Elf," Yugi said motioning to the female elf, who was still softly chanting, making the ghoul stop laughing, "She's been chanting a spell ever since I summoned her to the field," Mystical Elf finally opened her eyes, revealing them to gorgeous cherry-red color, she raised her arms as her chanting got a little louder and her aura began to transfer to Yugi's dragon, "This spell will allow her to transfer her attack power to my Blue Eyes White Dragon." Everyone watched as the Mysthical Elf's power dropped and Yugi's White Dragon's increased, the Gems were praising the cleverness.

 **Mystical Elf. ATK/DEF: 0/2300**

 **Yugi's Blue Eyes White Dragon. ATK/DEF: 4100/2500**

"What?" The ghoul shouted in shocked-despair, "This can't be happening, no!"

"Boo-yeah!" Joey and Tristan cheered, fist-pumping. "Go Yugi!" Mokuba cheered but was cut off by Kemo covering his mouth, making him panic as Kemo began to carefully back away until he reached the foliage for cover before taking off.

"Let this be a message from the real Seto Kaiba, you lose!" Yugi told the ghoul before ordering, "Blue Eyes, obliterate!" His dragon launched its attack, destroying the ghoul's dragon in a bright light.

"He did it!" Akira and Leon cheered as the ghoul's life points depleted completely.

 **Ghoul LPs: 0**

"Pegasus may have helped you escaped the Shadow Realm once before," Yugi told the ghoul viciously, "But it won't happen again!"

"NO!" The ghoul out-right panicked, "I WILL NOT GO BACK TO THAT WRECKED PLACE!" He stretched himself out as if he were made of silly-putty, stretching towards Stephanie with the intent to attach to her and anchor himself with her earrings, "COME HERE, PINKIE!"

Stephanie glared through her curled, pale pink-tipped bangs, eyes like pink ice as she said as the Eye of Horus formed on her forehead, "Don't call me 'Pinkie'," She then brought her hands up, palms facing up as her earrings glowed, "Spirit Shield!" The glow formed a golden shield around herself and her group, similar to her signature pink shield, only instead of a rose-symbol, it had the Eye of Horus on it, deflecting the ghoul, who howled at the touch as he was forced back to the red platform.

"Never again will you see this world nor will you go near Pink- _Hime_ again!" Yugi shouted reaching his hand towards the ghoul as the Eye of Horus formed on his forehead as well, "NEVER AGAIN!" The ghoul screamed as he was hit with a blast of magic before vanishing in wisps of smoke.

"Pegasu, I know you can hear me; consider this a warning, nothing you send against me will stop me," Yugi called out looking towards the trees, having had the idea that Pegasus would've lined some cameras by the arenas so he could watch the duels for whatever reason, "And when we duel again, I swear victory will be mine; I'll win back my grandfather's soul and you will pay for all of the people you've hurt in your sick, twisted game, I'm coming for you Pegasus!" Stephanie smiled a little, awed by the imposing figure Yami struck, only to suddenly grip her head at a sudden pain as she continued to look up at him.

Suddenly, Yugi's school uniform was replaced with the traditional linen pants and heavy gold jewelry traditional of Ancient Egypt of high-ranking officials, and a long black and red cape with a black and gold belt, and a gold head ring with the Eye of Horus engraved on the front, a pair of gold-colored sandals on his feet. Stephanie gritted her teeth as Yugi flashed back and forth between his modern and Ancient Egyptian appearance for a few seconds, before she dropped to her knees, startling the others, but she paid them no heed as a memory played through her mind's eye.

 _(Flashback)_

 _She had her head down, watching the pale, rose-pink silk of her dress flutter with her own steps, her feet clad in her favorite pair of pale red-dyed cloth sandals padded almost silently as she walked across the warm sandstone floor. She had been told the weather was warmer compared to home, but she hadn't expected it to be this hot; another vast difference that only served to make her even more home sick. She dearly missed the more lively and expressive monuments of her home, while Egypt and Greece shared the ideal simplicity, she missed the more familiarity of grass as far as the eye can see and rolling plains of hills, forests, rivers and natural lakes and ponds._

 _She could find a certain charm in the vast desert and its people; its sole river was magnificent and their natural mud-brick buildings a wonder to gaze at, especially the palace with its beautiful and insightful imagery along many of its walls and stone_ _columns; natural earthy colors a refreshing change, everyone she had met had been surprisingly kind and professional whenever she spoke to them, given how she had come into their care. Especially him._

 _"There you are," A familiar voice chuckled and she looked up to find herself in the palace's main garden, the most shading part of the palace grounds from its many tall palm-trees and the most colorful place she had seen in the entire desert. He stood, leaning against one of the trees, his traditional linen clothes rather casual for his status, then again, so was her dress for a lady like her, his gravity-defying hair eye-catching as always._

 _"You just don't know how to quit, do you?" She asked him in a rather neutral tone, unwilling to meet his eyes. "I told you before, no amount of fancy worded threats isn't going to sway me **waradiy alsaghir*** ," He chuckled before pressing two fingers beneath her chin and used them to lift her gaze to meet his blood-colored one, amusement and something unknown shining in them, "I'm after your heart princess and I plan to win it, and cure the loneliness that lurks in your heart."_

 _(End of Flashback)_

Stephanie's eyes snapped wide with startled-shock as her transformation reverted as she thought, _'What on Earth was that?'_ It defiantly wasn't one of her memories, she knew that much, she had never met someone with Yugi's characteristics before nor had she ever been to any sort of desert outside the one with all her mother's junk, but that didn't seem to be a normal desert, much less Egypt, and there had been no Egyptian building in sight, or anything like it, much less the remains of one.

000000000000000

In the room, Pearl had been startled by the gold shield and immediately concerned when her baby dropped to her knees, clutching her head in clear pain, but Pearl jumped when the glass in Pegasus' hand suddenly broke into hundreds of little shards. Croquet winced but simply went to do to call for a maid to clean up the glass.

"So you've both developed your shadow powers quite a bit in a surprising amount of time, especially you Little Quartz," Pegasus remarked, "But when we finally duel, believe me, the Millennium Puzzle and Earrings, as well as the healing and resurrection powers of Rose Quartz will be _mine_."

Pearl's eyes widened at the admission before her expression, "Is that what this is all about...?" Pegasus didn't respond, "Pegasus...there's a reason Rose didn't...you don't know what it would've done to her...Ceci wouldn't want to live an eternity just to..." She was cut off by a large shock from her collar, eliciting a startled, agonized screen, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

With a teal-colored cloud of smoke, Pearl was once again poofed. Pegasus had gritted his teeth the entire time as he wiped a prickle of tears away. He would not focus on that, not now, he needed to focus.

0000000000000

Back at the dueling arena, Yugi had walked to the other platform and took Kaiba's deck and looked at solemnly as he whispered, "Kaiba..."

"St-Pink, are you alright?" Akira asked in concern. "Miss Pink?" Leon asked as well. Stephanie shook her head to shake of the dizziness the memory had brought on and smiled in reassurance, "I'm fi-fine...really."

"Nice work kickin' that creep's aaaaa...butt!" Joey trailed off and quickly corrected himself upon remembering Leon's presence and Stephanie's warning back at the docks before this whole mess, "Nice job, Yugi!"

Stephanie then remembered something and looked around, blinking before gasping and then shouted in panic, "MOKUBA!" Which startled everyone as she rushed to her feet and looked around for the boy and Kemo, "That creep took Mokuba!"

"AH!" The Gems panicked realizing they hadn't been watching the other pebble and now he was missing. "Yamazaki you were suppose to be watching the clod!" Akira scolded. "ME?" Jazmin demanded, "I thought Hao was supposed to be watching them!"

"Hey, don't go blaming this on me!" Itzel retorted, "I was watching Ste-Miss Diamonde!"

"He's gone," Stephanie whimpered looking like she was about to fall to her knees again, but felt a strong pair of arms encircle her and had her leaning against someone, which upon glancing up revealed it to be Yugi, his transformation also reversed, "Taken again."

* * *

 **And that ends it there for now, Stephanie's Yami had a flashback, let me know what you guys think. Poor Pearl, wonder how she and apparently Rose knew Pegasus? We'll see later on.**

 **Hope I didn't make things too different with the Ghoul wanting to add Stephanie to the gamble, but if you think about it, the 'darkest' part of Kaiba would, in theory, want to be free of Pegasus' control by grounding itself to another item that has a wielder he thinks he can control.**

 **I also took this as a chance to dive into the Millennium Earrings' abilities, as Yami has the Mind Crush, Stephanie's Yami has the Spirit Shield, I thought it to be oddly fitting as the Earrings are closer to the head, they could be interpreted as a symbol of protection for both the mind and spirit, hence the Spirit Shield and the ability to mess with the ghoul's disguise as Kaiba. As for the flashback, it would appear Stephanie's Yami origins lies in Ancient Greece, came to Egypt for some reason and was receiving some rather romantic attention from Atem, but so far, that's it for now.**

 **Let me know what you all think of this, also, so far Rex seems to be the only one with a vote for being in the final eight, and there's still plenty of time to vote, just wanted to put that out there as Leon has become a likely candidate.**

 **Again, vote for Final Eight duelists is still up and I'm looking for songs for different pairings outside the two Yamis and Stephanie X Yugi.**

 **So let me know what you guys have in mind in the reviews.**

 **Till next time everybody.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own YuGiOh nor their original characters nor do I own Steven Universe and any of its original characters, cause if I did, Pink would've found a way to be able to exist at the same time with Steven and she would've come clean about everything with her identity! But, hey, a girl can dream.**

 **Now for the review replies:**

 **foxchick1: Glad to know your enjoying this story, again, I'm shocked no one's ever considered this before as I'm sure I'm not the only fan of both the original Yu-Gi-Oh and Steven Universe, and as for Pegasus' past, we'll get to that when we get to that and that's all I'm gonna say.**

 **MissGemma: May I say that's a rather nice nickname, I really like it. Second off, I'm really glad your enjoying this story and I'm flattered that you find it so enjoyable and don't worry this story has a much more consistent schelude compared to my other stories and should you have any comments, suggestions, etc, please don't hesisate to put them in a review or send them to me via PM, just don't get upset if I don't respond to the PM right away.**

 **Now on with the story!**

* * *

The sun was beginning to set on Duelist Kingdom and Yugi, Tristan, Joey, Itzel and Jazmin were running through the trees searching for Mokuba as Tea, Liliya, Akira, Stephanie and Leon remained by the arena, the two disguised females doing their best to console the hybrid, who was still upset with Mokuba being kidnapped right under her nose. Leon never liked seeing girls cry and was trying to help, which resulted in Stephanie hugging him tight to her, as if afraid he'd get snatched too if she let go.

"Mokuba!" Yugi called, "Mokuba!"

"This is no time to be playin' hide 'n' seek Mokuba!" Joey called out looking behind a tree. "Mokuba answer us!" Tristan called as well. "For the love of the stars above and beyond," Jazmin sighed really wanting to punch something, "Pebble if you can hear us, answer!" A hand on her shoulder made her look back at Itzel, who had a grim look on her face as she shook her head.

"Kemo must have taken him back to Pegasus' castle," The rainbow-haired veteran said as she turned to look where she could see the building over the treetops. Jazmin turned to look as well, face fixed into what was becoming her signature sneer as she added, "All the more reason to hurry up with those Star Chips."

"Yeah," Joey agreed as he started to walk over but paused when he noticed some Duel Monster cards on the ground, he bent down and picked them up, admiring them, "Wow, someone dropped their cards."

"Hands off, those are mine!" Tristan said once he saw the cards, much to Joey and the two women's surprises. "You duel?" Itzel asked in surprise. "Well, I'm no expert like Yugi," Tristan said bashfully, "But he started teaching me, Tea and Joey, and since Joey seems to think he's good enough for the tournament, maybe next time I'd give it a go!"

"Oh hardy-har-har," Joey rolled his eyes, "Give me a break Tristan, I haven't even dueled yet," He blinked when he noticed a particular card, "I know that monster..."

As Joey reached back for his deck, Yugi questioned, "Haven't I seen that card in your deck Joey?"

"Nah, but I know I have one similar tah it," Joey replied looking for through his cards, stopping when he found one with a monster similar to Tristan's save for color scheme, "Bingo, Swamp Battleguard," He then held out the cards for Jazmin and Itzel to see, "Well, will ya look at that, these two look like they could be long-lost brothers," He then smirked at Tristan, "Of course, that doesn't mean yours packs the same wallop mine does."

Tristan glared in response, clenching his teeth, "His 'wallop' is just fine..." He breathed through his nose to calm himself down before he did or said something he knew he was going to regret, "My Lava Battleguard has never let me down before, try him out, you'll see."

"Thanks," Joey smiled appreciatively, "It does say they work best together."

"You know," Jazmin suddenly spoke up, smirking, "I can almost see a resemble between you two twigs and those dunderheads," Yugi and Itzel chuckled as the other two pouted, "Now, c'mon, we need to get back before some other member of Pegasus' pathetic thugs tries to take a swing at Miss Diamonde." That said, she led them back towards the others as Joey placed Tristan's card in his deck and put it away.

Meanwhile, at a different arena, Mai was in the middle of dueling, but didn't enthused or all that into it as her opponent stuttered nervously, "Y-Y-Your mo-move Mai."

"Oh harpies give that monster our kind of makeover, attack," Mai said bored, not even looking at the field as her Harpie Lady Sisters came together in a triangular form, conjuring an electrical attack that destroyed their Mistress' opponent's monster and winning the duel, but Mai wasn't the least bit impressed or into the fact she had won, "Wow, that was a real challenge, its right up there with doing my nails."

"But I was ranked four in my division finals!" Her opponent whined. "Yeah, yeah, that's great hun," Mai said not paying any attention with a bored sigh neither of them noticing her three harpies sharing a very concerned look before disappearing, not used to type of attitude from their Mistress.

Not long after getting her awarded Star Chips, Mai sat leisurely atop a hill with a rather nice view of the ocean, half admiring the view as the water shimmered under the different colored lights of the setting sun and half pondering over her new lack of enthusiasm over winning her duel. _'I just don't get it, trashing hot shot duelists used to be as fun as a fall clearance sale,'_ Mai thought to herself looking up at the slightly cloudy sky, _'Why can't I enjoy it anymore?'_ As if to answer her own question, Mai's mind conjured an image of Stephanie's face in the sky, her words from their duel resonating in the blonde's head.

Instantly, Mai growled and then began to rant, "Its all that annoying little spoiled pink princess' fault! I _still_ can't believe such an amateur brat like her managed to beat me!" The image smirked and blew a childish raspberry at her, which only added fuel to the fire, "I have to find a way to get back at that-that-that...gem-loving, sickly, over-muscled weirdo! And who is she to say I can't be a champion if I'm only dueling for myself? I don't need anyone and-!"

Footsteps made her pause in her ranting and blink before turning to see a short teenage boy about Yugi's height with tanned skin, long(ish), wild brown hair and grayish-purple bangs under a red beanie hat and dark brown, almost black-colored eyes that were glaring at her. He wore a black shirt under a buttoned up green jacket underneath an opened whitish-cream vest with tawny pants and navy blue shoes with white soles and laces. He carried a dark gray dufflebag and a deck holster on his matching belt.

"There you are, I've been searching the whole island for you!" He frowned at her, one hand gripping the string of his bag and the other was a fist on his hip, "I think its high time we finish what we started back on the boat."

Mai rolled her eyes, before tapping her chin in mock-thought, "Funny, I recall already knocking you on your jurassic butt."

"Everyone knows about your little perfume trick!" He huffed, "So don't think you're going to psyche me out again!"

"Look, Rex Raptor, right?" Mai said dropping her act and he nodded, "I have nothing to prove by dueling you again and don't think I don't have better things to do."

"Eh, I was the runner up at the Regional Championships, would've won too if Underwood would stop pulling all those underminded tricks!" Rex rebutted stubbornly, before holding up his Duelist Glove, "Plus I've already won five Star Chips, so I'm halfway to the castle!"

Mai smirked as she held up her own glove, twisting it so he could she the only two empty slots left, "I have eight," Rex growled at her, "So I'm just two away from getting into the castle," Mai then frowned, "And it'll be well worth it once I get back at that pink brat for the humiliating defeat she handed me."

"Pink..." Rex muttered with a furrowed brow, wondering who she meant, before it clicked, "Wait, you mean Pinkamena Diamodne? She beat you?" His confused turned into a thoughtful one, "She must be better than I thought."

Mai frowned in response, "She caught me off guard, alright? I'd like to see you face her or any of them for that-" She stopped herself as an idea popped into her head, then she smirked as she stood and turned fully, "Alright Rex, I'll duel you, if you one little thing for me first."

Rex arched a brow incredulously for a moment before thinking it over and eventually said, "I'm listening..." Mai smirked in response.

000000000000000

"Are you sure you don't want to stick by us for a little bit Leon?" Stephanie asked the redhead after managing to calm down.

Leon nodded, "I really appreciate everything you guys have done for me, Miss Diamonde," Stephanie inwardly cringed at the title, "But...I made myself a promise when I accepted the invitation to compete hear; that I'd make it into the finals on my own terms, I only accepted that deck from my brother because he kept insisting," He gave her a pleading look, "Please understand Miss Diamonde, this is something I need to do."

Stephanie couldn't help cracking a little smile at Leon's determination, his drive reminding her oddly of herself when she was younger, trying to prove desperately to the Crystal Gems that she wasn't helpless. She gave a little nod which made Leon smile.

"You take care of yourself Little Pebble, ya hear?" Liliya said as they waved their new friend off. "I will!" Leon assured as he walked off to find a new challenge and earn more Star Chips. "And don't forget to call if you run into any more nasty cheaters!" Akira added waving Stephanie's cellphone, which now had Leon's number in it on so the boy could contact them if someone tried to unfairly boot him off the island again. "I will!" Leon replied before disappearing from sight.

Not a moment later, the boys, Jazmin and Itzel returned. Stephanie instantly asked, "Any sign of them?"

They all sighed and shook their heads as Yugi answered, "None." Which made Stephanie's heart sink.

"Kemo must've taken him back to the castle," Itzel informed. "Guess that just adds to the importance to getting into the finals then," Akira sighed making everyone else nod in agreement.

They started walking and found themselves over looking an area of different arenas and several other duelists. "You know, after all the weirdos," Tea spoke up, "Its nice to see some normal duelists for a change."

Akira and Liliya nodded in agreement, but Itzel shrugged, "Normalcy's overrated."

"So who are you going to duel first Joey?" Stephanie asked the blonde curiously as he looked around at the other duelists. "Maybe we should be looking for some three-year-olds for you to duel," Tristan joked smirking making Joey glare at him as the disguised Gems shared a confused glance whilst Stephanie looked stunned at the degrading remark.

"Or maybe a dueling monkey," Tea suggested giggling as Tristan outright laughed. "Now that's a very nice thing to say about a friend," Stephanie commented with a stern frown.

"Yeah," Joey agreed hotly with an angrily glare, "So the both of ya shut it!" He then stomped off, "OK who wants tah duel?" They all froze at hearing a familiar laugh and a few of them groaned and turning confirmed their suspicions as a certain blonde female walked towards them, "Oh, its you Mai."

"Hello to you too," Mai chuckled, "How you've been? Still haven't won any Star Chips yet?"

"I'm good 'n' no, not yet," Joey answered, "I see ya got eight of yer own now, how many of 'em did ya win with yer cheap perfume trick?"

"I haven't used that trick since your pink friend beat me," Mai answered honestly, something that Stephanie could sense for some odd reason, "But now, I want _you_ to duel, but against an opponent of _my_ choosing."

"So, I have tah duel someone else besides you?" Joey clarified which was when Rex appeared from behind a tree. "Hey, isn't that Rex Raptor?" Stephanie asked in surprise, recognizing the runner up from the Japanese Regional Finals. "Yeah, I think it is," Yugi answered.

"Isn't he the guy who came in second aftah that weasel Underwood?" Joey asked, "If he lost to that cheatin' slimeball, he can't be that tough."

"Thinking like that can get ya squashed later in life blondie," Rex rebutted rather calmly, surprising Mai, "So are we gonna duel or what?"

"Fine by me," Joey shrugged much to his friends shock and the Gems gave him points for pluck for deciding to duel someone of such high caliber so quickly. "Are you nuts?" Tea asked in disbelief, "He won second place in the Regional Championships, what are you trying to prove?"

"I'm not tryin' tah prove anythin'," Joey replied, "He challenged me 'n' its obvious Mai wants me tah chicken out tah make Pink 'n' Yugi look bad by association, so ain't gonna give 'er the satisfaction of seein' me back down."

"This is crazy, you might be willing to throw away your only Star Chip, but I won't let you!" Tristan said grabbing Joey's shoulder, but Joey turned and shoved Tristan away, shocking him, Tea and Yugi as the Gems arched a surprised brow. "If you don't think I can win this on mah own then maybe ya shouldn't have come 'ere at all!" Joey snapped not noticing the hurt that flashed across the brunette's face, "I'll beat Rex on mah own!"

"But Joey we're your friends!" Yugi protested, "We want to help you!" Joey huffed, unconvinced.

"Forget it Yug," Tristan said with gritted teeth, "If he wants to throw away the chance to help his sister than its his choice!" With that said, he stormed off in frustration.

"Tristan!" Itzel and Yugi shouted after him.

"Let him go," Joey huffed, "And you guys should probably go with him, that way, Mai can't say you guys helped me our or somethin'." He then stalked off for one of the arenas as Rex walked along as well.

"But Joey," Liliya protested. "You guys stay with Joey," Stephanie told her, "We'll talk to Tristan." They all nodded and split off, the majority of the group going after Tristan and Liliya being the only one to go after Joey.

"Sounds like trouble in paradise to me," Rex commented as he stood in the red platform. "Ah hush up, at least I ain't doin' a chick's biddin', what Mai promised ya if ya beat me anyways?" Joey retorted, "A kiss? A signed picture? What?"

Rex's eye twitched before he almost shouted, "She promised to duel me!"

"Wow, yer that desperate tah talk tah a girl ya offer tah let 'er boss ya around," Joey commented with a smirk making Rex growl. "Your gonna pay for that!" Rex huffed, "Since you only got one Star Chip, that's all I'll wager," He set down one of his Star Chips, "That way when I pummel you into dust you'll be off the island for good." Joey nodded in acknowledgement before setting his only Star Chip down, he then glanced down as their life points were set to see only Liliya, who gave him an encouraging smile, which he returned, albeit, a bit strained.

 _'Seems they left, even Pink,'_ Joey thought, _'Just wait when they learn I beat Rex Raptor all by myself,'_ He couldn't keep the smile off his face, _'Liliya will be so impressed!'_

"Oi!" Rex shouted at him, "Wipe that dumb smile off your face, its time to duel!"

 **Joey LPs: 2000**

 **Rex LPs: 2000**

After they drew their starting hand, Joey looked at his cards and saw his opinions. _'Alright, Time Wizard in my first hand. plus Dark Blade and Pitch Dark Dragon can be combined if I have polymerization,'_ He thought with elation, out loud, he said, "I'll summon Pitch-Dark Dragon in defense mode." His dragon stood on its hind-legs much like the Blue Eyes White Dragon with small claws and large wings with a plated tail, only, as its name suggested, it was black as night and the edges of it whisped like smoke and it hand horns on its head.

 **Pitch-Dark Dragon. Attribute: DARK. Tribe: DRAGON/UNION. Lv: 3. ATK/DEF: 900/600**

"You really should know better than to play defense on your first turn!" Rex commented with a smirk-like smile, "Two Headed King Rex!" He too summoned a monster, only his was a bipedal reptile that stood on its hind legs and was purple in color with three-digit claws and talons, a single tail, a pair of wings and had two heads with three yellow horns and matching jaws full of teeth.

 **Two Headed King Rex. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: DINOSAUR. Lv: 4. ATK/DEF: 1600/1200**

"Since when do creatures of any kind have two heads?" Liliya gaped in shock before remembering she was by herself and sighed, "Oh yeah, they went after Tristan..." She then noticed the two-headed beast's power increasing and gulped upon remembering the field power bonus and got worried for Joey, "Oh no..."

 **Two Headed King Rex. ATK/DEF: 2080/1580**

"Aw man!" Joey panicked. "Foot stomp!" Rex ordered and his monster responded in kind, charging Joey's dragon and stomping it into destruction. "It's okay Joey!" Liliya called up encouragingly, "Everyone's allowed to make mistakes, even Miss Diamonde made them, remember?" Mai laughed earning a pointed glare from the bluenette, "What's so funny?"

"He already made the biggest mistake that'll cost him this duel," The blonde answered, "He accepted it in the first place." Liliya glared venomously.

"I might've made a mistake," Joey muttered, "But I think I have on card that can destroy Rex's monster," He then summoned a new monster, shouting, "Go Dark Blade!" His monster was clad head-to-toe in black, samurai-like armor with a black and red cape and held a pair of dual swords.

 **Dark Blade. Attribute: DARK. Tribe: WARRIOR. Lv: 4. ATK/DEF: 1800/1500**

"Yes!" Liliya cheered as the monster got its own field power bonus.

 **Dark Blade. ATK/DEF: 2310/1895**

"Yes, he got the field power bonus!" Joey cheered as well, "Now show that overgrown lizard why dinosaurs went extinct!"

His warrior burst forward and with a graceful spin, sliced Rex's dinosaur into pieces, which burst into data. "Yeah!" Liliya cheered again and Mai scowled as Rex's life points dropped.

 **Rex LPs: 1770**

"Don't let that one victory go to your head," Rex remarked as he drew, "I summon Sword Arm of Dragon!" He summoned a stegosaurus that was beige in color with brown splotches and blue plates down its back and the end of its tail was shaped similarly to a blade.

 **Sword Arm of Dragon. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: DINOSAUR. Lv: 6. ATK/DEF: 1750/2030**

Liliya's expression became a dry deadpan as she commented in a similar tone, "I'm starting to notice a theme with this guy's monsters..." As she said this, the bladed-tailed lizard's power increased from the power bonus.

 **Sword Arm of Dragon. ATK/DEF: 2275/2639**

"And I'll add this magic card," Rex added as he held up his chosen card for Joey to see, "Raise Body Heat!" His monster began to glow red and literally steam as its points grew even higher.

 **Sword Arm of Dragon. ATK/DEF: 2575/2939**

"Ah crap..." Joey cringed as Rex's monster charged his Dark Blade. "Sword Tail Slash!" Rex ordered, his monster turned and swung its tail at Joey's warrior, destroying it and depleting a bit of Joey's life points.

 **Joey LPs: 1735**

"Don't give up Joey!" Liliya called up encouraging, "We're all here for you!" Joey's face pinched slightly as he glanced down at her.

 _'Yeah, that's why Yugi, Pink and the rest left,'_ He thought sarcastically, but sighed as he took a moment to pinch the bridge of his nose, _'Then again , I guess I had a part to play with how they did.'_

0000000000

Meanwhile, Tristan was kneeling by a little pond, where he was splashing his face, grumbling, "What a nimrod, he's gonna get himself creamed by that Freak-a-saurus." He turned to see Jazmin, Itzel, Akira, Stephanie, Yugi and Tea looking at him.

"He did make it pretty clear that he didn't want our help," Tea pointed out softly. "Only because he didn't want to take how you two were babying him," Jazmin snorted earning a pointed look from Tea and Tristan, "What? It's true, you were treating him like he didn't know what he was doing."

"Because he doesn't!" Tristan retorted despite the slight guilt in his eyes. "Don't you have any faith in him? I mean, you knew I didn't have any experience before dueling Mai, but you didn't try to stop me," Stephanie pointed out making the two wince, "Tristan, I might not know him as well as you do, but I think if your positions were switched, Joey wouldn't have tried to stop you." Tristan looked down, unable to deny she was a hundred-percent on the nose with that one.

"You got lucky with Mai, Pink," Tristan finally said, "He's not an expert like Yugi is, he isn't ready for an opponent like Rex!"

"You know, there was someone I used to have so much confidence and faith in, someone I honestly thought could do no wrong," Itzel said suddenly grabbing everyone's attention and Stephanie looked to the side, putting her shades on to hide her guilty expression, guessing who she was talking about, "She was the most experienced fighter I knew and I thought she trusted me to do the right thing and that we could talk things out if we ever got into a disagreement, but..." Itzel placed a hand over her stomach, grimacing at a memory, "She...wasn't what I thought..."

Tea, Tristan, Yugi and Akira all looked at her sympathetically as Jazmin looked away with a distant expression on her face. "Wh-what happened...?" Tea dared to ask, earning a pointed look from both Akira and, surprisingly, Stephanie. But Itzel answered, "She tried to kill me..." The teens all gasped and Jazmin looked over in surprise.

"I-I'm sorry..." Yugi said with wide eyes. "Don't be, it was a really long time ago," Itzel shook her head with a bittersweet smile, "What I'm trying to say is, don't let something this small get in the way of something more important." Tristan nodded in understanding, a contemplating look on his face, but there was a twinge of uncertainty, the memory of Liliya's transformation and admission to Leon she wasn't exactly human left him unsure what to say to her.

0000000000000

Back at the dueling arena, Joey was looking at the cards in his hands as he thought wearily, _'Nothing in my hand can beat his monster; maybe Mai was right, maybe this duel was a mistake,'_ Joey then shook his head, _'No, if I begin doubting myself now, how will Serenity be able to reply on me...and how can I look Liliya in the eye again...'_ He looked at his cards again, _'I still have Time Wizard, but I haven't drawn Baby Dragon yet, but...it can't hurt to put the card on the field,'_ Mind made up, he set his monster face-down, "Time Wizard."

 _'The Time Wizard, huh?'_ Mai thought, _'That's basically a monster version of the card Diamonde used to beat me with; I should warn Rex,'_ With that thought, she called up to her co-conspirator, "Raptor, watch that Time Wizard, its a lot like Daimonde's Crystal Heat Chronometer! The card she used to beat me!"

"Just because their a like doesn't mean they're both dangerous," Rex pointed out, he then got thinking, _'Plus, this ain't Diamonde, I know Wheeler's type, he'll play another monster in defense mode and when he does, he'll be in for a prehistoric smack-down,'_ And he smirked as Joey did just as he predicted and played a monster in defense mode, "Ya see, I knew the rookie wouldn't know what to do!" He then summoned a light orange triceratops that had spines similar to its horns on its back.

 **Megazowler. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: DINOSAUR. Lv: 6. ATK/DEF: 1800/2000**

"This is not good," Liliya commented once again with a little shake of the head, watching the new lizard rack its hind feet in the dirt, clearly getting ready to charge as its power rose thanks to the field power bonus, "Nope."

 **Megazowler. ATK/DEF: 2340/2600**

"Megazowler smash his monster to pieces!" Rex ordered and his monster charged, causing Joey's monster to reveal itself to be slightly similar to Yugi's Giant Soldier of Stone, if on a smaller scale with no form of stone weaponry.

 **Rock Ogre 1#. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: ROCK. Lv: 3. ATK/DEF: 800/1200**

Joey's ogre tried to hold Rex's triceratops back, but was eventually overwhelmed and reduced to rumble.

 _'Okay Joey, you can do this,'_ Joey assured himself before drawing his next card and instantly got a big grin on his face, "Alright! Go Flame Swordsman, carve those dinosaurs up like they were big turkeys!" The monster Joey summoned was an organic male with tanned skin with dark eyes wearing a blue warrior's outfit with a flame orange clothe belt and a matching helmet, holding a magnificent orange-bladed, two-handed sword.

 **Flame Swordsman. Attribute: FIRE. Tribe: WARRIOR/FUSION. Lv: 5. ATK/DEF: 1800/1600**

All Liliya could say was, "Wow..." Her eyes were wide with awe as the new warrior gained his own field power bonus.

 **Flame Swordsman. ATK/DEF: 2340/2080**

"Didn't you see what my dinosaur did to your Rock Ogre?" Rex demanded skeptically, "Or do you really want to lose?" Without really giving it thought, Rex ordered his next attack, "Megazowler charge!"

But Mai actually did think and shouted in an attempt to warn him, "Rex, you big dummy!"

"Flaming Sword of Battle!" Joey ordered in kind and his Flame Swordsman tilted his sword a little and it lit to life with fire, which he then swung in a forward arch, creating a funnel of flames, destroying Rex's monster, much to his shock and Liliya's joyed-awe.

"He did it!" Liliya cheered. "How did...how did you know dinosaurs are vulnerable to fire?" Rex asked in shock once he realized what happened, being a fire attribute monster, Flame Swordsman mere presence cancelled out the field power bonus his dinosaurs had gained, leaving them open to the warrior's attack.

Joey looked just as surprised with the results himself, before shrugging bashfully, "Er...would you believe it was a lucky guess?" Rex and Mai both fell over anime-style in disbelief, which made Liliya giggle and Flame Swordsman himself shook his shoulders with mirth as he tried to remain quiet, snorting softly to himself in his efforts.

"Impossible!" Mai shouted in disbelief, "How can someone be _that_ lucky?" Liliya shot Joey a thumbs up, which he returned as Rex's life points fell.

 **Rex LPs: 1230**

"Looks like I just found out the weakness tah yer dinosaurs," Joey said with a growing smirk, "Hope your not too...saur...about it!" Flame Swordsman clamped a hand over his mouth in effort to keep himself from outright bursting into laughter at the pun, which Liliya didn't both and held her stomach with mirth, "Get it? Sore, saur, dino; dinosaur."

Righting himself, Rex replied, "I got the joke," He then switched the position of his remaining dinosaur, "I'm putting my Sword Arm of Dragon into defense mode." His stegosaurus crouched and curled its tail around itself.

"Can't say he doesn't have sense," Liliya admitted. "Flame Swordsman attack!" Joey ordered and his warrior attacked, destroying Rex's Sword Arm of Dragon and for the next two turns, both of the monsters Rex had summoned in defense were destroyed by Joey's Swordsman.

"Woo!" Liliya cheered enthusiastically, "Go Joey!" Joey blushed a little at her cheering.

"Now I summon Swamp Battleguard," Joey said as he summoned a new monster that looked a bit trollish with green skin, wearing a black loincloth and carried a spiked club.

 **Swamp Battleguard. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: WARRIOR/EFFECT. Lv: 5. ATK/DEF: 1800/1500**

"Now there's a monster that represents Wheeler rather well," Mai commented dryly. "Your just mad because your partner's not winning any-more," Liliya called her out making the blonde huff as Joey's Battleguard's power rose with the field power bonus.

 **Swamp Battleguard. ATK/DEF: 2340/1950**

"Big deal," Rex said unimpressed, "I have a beast that'll wipe both of your monsters out in one shot," He drew and smirked, "I summon Serpent Night Dragon!" His monster was a blue serpentine dragon with a bird-like face and smallish wings and two pairs of sharp talons.

 **Serpent Night Dragon. Attribute: DARK. Tribe: DRAGON. Lv: 7. ATK/DEF: 2350/2400**

"This rare card is reward to all who make it into the finals of the Regional Championships," Rex said with a confident smile, "But for a loser like you, it should be an honor to be trashed by it," He then ordered, "Nightmare Sonic Blast!" His dragon launched wisps of black energy, destroying Flame Swordsman.

"Oh man...this ain't good," Joey whispered with wide eyes. "Joey..." Liliya whispered in concern as the blonde's life points dropped, though thankfully by not that much.

 **Joey LPs: 1725**

Joey drew his next card and his eyes widened when he saw what it was, _'Tristan's card...he always shows up somehow to help me out...'_ He couldn't help cracking a smile as the memory played in his mind, despite the fact they had both ended badly bruised with slit lips to boot and Tristan didn't even have to be there to begin with, it was a memory Joey was always going to cherish and it also served to reinforce the hurt of Tristan's apparent lack of faith in him and his skills as a duelist that bore into him.

"Hey Joey!" A voice shouted snapping out him out of his thoughts and he turned to see Tristan and the others had come back, standing around Liliya, and it was Tristan who had called out to him, adding with a playful grin, "So you going to use my card or what?"

"You got it!" Joey grinned and then shouted, "Go Lava Battleguard!" The monster was a red-skinned version of Swamp Battleguard, also carrying a spiked club.

 **Lava Battleguard. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: WARRIOR/EFFECT. Lv: 5. ATK/DEF: 1550/1800**

"Cool my card's on the field!" Tristan said with a smile as the field power bonus kicked in for the second Battleguard.

 **Lava Battleguard. ATK/DEF:2015/2340**

Joey smiled at his friend when noticed something odd, both of his monsters suddenly gained an increased of attack points by five hundred each.

 **Swamp Battleguard. ATK/DEF: 2840/1950**

 **Lava Battleguard. ATK/DEF: 2515/2340**

But Rex didn't seem to notice as he said with a slight sarcastic them lacked any actual bite, "What a touching reunion," He then ordered, "Serpent Night Dragon, attack the green one!" His dragon did as ordered but before its attack could hit, Lava Battleguard swung its club and knocked the attack right back at Rex's monster, much to everyone's shock, "What's going on? My attack's been deflected!" His monster was destroyed by its own dark rings, making him stammer, "But...but how? There weren't any trap cards..."

"Its simple," Surprisingly, it was Joey who explained, "Lava Battleguard deflected yer attack." Rex blinked in shock.

"Of course, those monsters are like best friends and when they're both on the field they help each other out by giving each other a power boost," Stephanie said as it came to her. "Kinda like how you and Joey are in real life, Tristan," Yugi added making Tristan smile and look up at Joey, who nodded.

"Thanks for the help Tristan," Joey told him and the brunette gave him a thumb up in support. "What a team," Akira said having run the scenario in her head a few times over from a strategic stand point, "Not only did they destroy Raptor's monster, but they took out a hefty chuck of his life points at the same time!" Sure enough, Rex's life points dropped to a semi-low level.

 **Rex LPs: 740**

"And with those two on the field..." Itzel said in realization. "There's not a card in Rex's deck that can stop us," Tristan stated but Rex smirked.

 _'Enjoy your victory while it lasts, because I'm about to use a monster that will wipe you out,'_ He thought with a chuckle, aloud he said, "You might have gained a small lead thanks to your Battleguards, but lets see if you can keep it." He then set a monster face down in defense mode.

"Lava Battleguard," Joey ordered, "Turn that dinosaur into a fossil!" His red Battleguard roared and jumped up, slamming its club down on Rex's monster, destroying it.

"Look at those two go," Tristan said with a smile that even Jazmin shared, able to admire the the teamwork between the two monsters, "They're a great tag-team."

"You're right about that," Yugi agreed, "The power bonus they get from not just the field but from each other at the same time makes them a tough duo to beat."

"No joke," Liliya agreed as well, "And since Rex's best card was already destroyed, the rest of this will be simple." Akira and Stephanie both nodded in agreement, though Stephanie was a bit more hesitant, not liking the look in Rex's eyes, it was one that hinted at a secret.

"Finish him Blondie!" Jazmin called and Joey nodded slightly irked by the nickname. Rex sneered until he drew and calmed with a chuckle.

"Who said the Serpent Night Dragon was my best card?" Rex questioned, "Oh, my supreme monster _is_ a dragon, just a different one," He then played the card he was referring to with a confident declaration of its name, "Come forth, Red Eyes Black Dragon!" Everyone gasped in shock.

Mai was the one to ask, "A what dragon?"

Her questioned was answered when a pillar of green light shot out of Rex's field and the dragon appeared. It was large, easily matching the Blue Eyes White Dragon in height, grith and mass, only it was sharper looking, less rounded and was also plated looking, but was, as its name said, black in color with an equally large wingspan and blood red eyes. Its talons and claws were sharp and dark in color, gleaming in the setting sun, and its tail was long and deadly.

 **Red-Eyes Black Dragon. Attribute: DARK. Tribe: DRAGON/NORMAL. Lv: 7. ATK/DEF: 2400/2000**

The dragon tilted its serpentine head back and released a roar that shook the arena and area around it, before glaring down the two Battleguards, which tensed as it hissed at them. Call the Gems crazy, but they could swear it actually twitched its head side-to-side as if working out cricks out of its neck.

"So it does exist, my-my grandpa told me about that card," Yugi said as everyone stared up at the dragon in awe, "Its said under the right conditions, its power can rival that of the Blues-Eyes White Dragon."

"My friend Buck told me about it too," Stephanie added, "Its the White Dragon's opposite in every possible way...he used to joke if the two were ever real creatures, they could level the landscape and leave nothing but pure destruction in their wake." The Gems and teens all shivered at the image, so did Mai.

But Mai shook it off and smirked, "It was about time Rex played a card that would put one of these wannabees in their place, I can't wait for him to duel Diamonde next."

"And if you think those two brain-dead brutes are gonna save each other from this dragon's rampage, you better think again," Rex stated holding up a new magic card, the picture looking like a large set of claws, "With this spell card 'Dragon Nails' my dragon's attack points climb to three thousand, more than enough to wipe out a whole army of your Battleguards." Gauntlets shaped like claws formed over the Red-Eyes' real claws before it flew into the air.

Liliya gasped, "Oh no!" Sure enough, the dragon's attack increased.

 **Red-Eyes Black Dragon. ATK/DEF: 3000/2000**

"Red-Eyes Black Dragon attack!" Rex ordered as his dragon flung its head back, "With Inferno Fire Blast!" It conjured a large sphere of fire and launched it down at Joey's Lava and Swamp Battleguard, destroying them both.

"He torched them both with one shot!" Joey exclaimed as he and the others stared in utter shock now really glad the Red-Eyes and Blue-Eyes weren't real creatures. "Those who defend together are destroyed together," Rex stated with an amused chuckle as Joey's life points dropped lower then his own to a dangerous level.

 **Joey LPs: 365**

"That creep," Tristan growled. "Tristan..." Yugi warned.

"That's a good boy Rex," Mai cooed making the brunette blush in embarrassment, having almost forgotten about her and was a little uncomfortable with antics, "Now finish him off."

Now it was Liliya's turn to growl, "That bitch..." Stephanie looked at her in shock, "What?" She pouted and crossed her arms, glaring at the female blonde.

 _'What can I do? I can't think of any card in my deck that's strong enough to defeat Rex's dragon,'_ Joey thought as he looked at his hand, _'My best warrior would be destroyed and if I manage to draw Baby Dragon and transform it into Thousand Dragon, it still won't be enough.'_

"We're here for you Joey!" Tristan shouted in support, "Just because that dragon's strong doesn't mean it can't be beat; they said the same thing about the Blue Eyes and Yugi beat all three!"

"We're here for you Joey!" Tea added, "Dueling is about more heart then strength!" Joey nodded and drew his next card.

"Draw any card ya want," Rex shrugged humorously, "It'll just be destroyed the next turn you play it," He then remembered Joey's face-down monster, _'Oh yeah, I almost forgot about Wheeler's Time Wizard, apparently its a lot like the magic card Diamonde used to beat Mai just in monster form and more risk.'_

"Are you going to actually win this duel today?" Mai asked him, "Or are you going to stand there with that dumb look on your face?" Mai continued to shout at him, but he easily tuned her out and ignored her, her voice starting to irritate his ears.

 _'Again with the insults, does she ever shut up?'_ Rex thought to himself unaware most of Joey's friends were having similar thoughts about the blonde female, _'God I can't wait to put her in her place,'_ His popped open as an idea hit him, _'Wait a minute, this actually gives me an idea,'_ He then glanced upward in thought, _'And as underhanded as it maybe and maybe a little too Underwood for my taste, but I'm getting the idea if our places were switched Mai would probably do the same thing,'_ Making up his mind with a shrug, he called out, "Hey Wheeler!"

"What is it Rex?" Joey asked curiously. "What do you say we make things just a little more interesting?" Rex offered, "We each put up a card for grabs along with our Star Chips, and to make it fair, we'll put up all the cards we have on the field," He then took off another of his Star Chips, "In fact, to sweeten the deal, I'll even throw in another Star Chip, just cause I'm feeling generous," He set it down next to the other one, but kept his hand near it should Joey refuse, "What do you say?"

"Cards on the field?" Joey blinked before remembering, "Oh yeah, the Time Wizard."

"And for him, I'll offer my supreme Red-Eyes Black Dragon," Rex said shocking everyone at the rather generous deal he was offering, even Mai was stunned at the unusual attitude, "And the extra Star Chip, its really a deal you can't refuse."

"Just what do you think you're doing you disobedient dolt?" Mai shouted at Rex, much to the others' amusements, especially Liliya's, "You're supposed to win this duel for me, not improve your own deck!"

Rex just rolled his eyes, "Like you wouldn't do the exact same thing!"

"That's not the point you double-crossing snake!" Mai shouted making Rex huff at her blatant admittance, turning away from her, furthering her ire, "Don't you turn your back to me!" During this, Joey was staring at the Red-Eyes Black Dragon, who was staring right back at him with a rather somber expression.

 _'That Red Eyes sure could help my chances in winning this tournament, but...can I really ante up the card Yugi gave me?'_ Joey wondered before seeing the dragon nod at him with a soft growl, _'Okay, am I going crazy or did that dragon just nod at me? Like it was okay with the idea of me using him.'_ He glanced back down at his Time Wizard card.

"Do you think he'll take the offer?" Tea asked. "If I were him, I'd do it," Jazmin stated without hesitance, "That dragon would be a boon in anyone's deck regardless of the basis, just like the Blue-Eyes that pig used against the Pipsqueak."

Yugi was nodding in agreement when the nickname registered and he pouted at her, "Will you please stop calling me that?"

"Its either that," Jazmin stated simply with an amused smile, "Or Star-Head, your pick." Yugi huffed at that, making Stephanie pat his shoulder comfortingly, which made him blush as a result of the contact.

"Alright Rex, your Red Eyes Black Dragon against my Time Wizard," Joey accepted the offer, "Winner take all," Rex smirked and Mai glared at both duelists, "But while I'm at it, I'm making him my weapon of choice," He flip-summoned his monster, "Go Time Wizard!"

The Time Wizard was a little cartoonish apperance-wise being an animated red clock with thin arms and white magician's gloves with yellow gears on his shoulders and ankles and the brim of his top hat was a matching gear, but was otherwise red. He wore a purple cape and making curl-toed shoes. The top half of his 'face' was blue and the bottom half was yellow, the clock hands were green attached to a red 'nose' and he held a blue staff with a small red clock at the top with a blue face and yellow arrow with four white skulls and four red symbols the Gems' couldn't identify.

 **Time Wizard. Attribute: LIGHT. Tribe: SPELLCASTER/EFFECT. Lv: 2. ATK/DEF: 500/400**

"Time Wizard?" Itzel commented. "Huh, that card kinda remains me of your Crystal Heat Chronometer, Ste-Miss Diamonde," Akira commented as well.

"That's because there both based off clocks and both can fast forward time," Stephanie replied, "The differences are that mines a magic card and only works depending on how many Crystal Geodes I have on the field, Time Wizard's a monster and his powers come with a gamble, so it could work for Joey or against him."

"That's right, Time Roulette," Yugi agreed, "If the hand on Time Wizard's staff lands on a time machine, it fast forwards time and works in Joey's favor, but if it lands on a skull, it'll destroy all of Joey's monsters, including itself and Joey takes damage."

"Damage!" Liliya gasped horrified, "But he can't take anymore damage!" She then blinked rememebering what Rex had said about Mai agreeing to duel him if he won against Joey and suddenly, realized what Rex was aiming for, "That clever little lizard, that's why he wants Time Wizard."

"Huh?" The others asked confused, looking at her. "What do ya mean?" Tristan asked.

"Its just like Miss Diamonde's Chronometer, she said it herself, the only difference it the type of card and the overall effect, but it does basically the same thing and Miss Diamonde used one to defeat Mai," Liliya explained gesturing at the frustrated blonde, "Who promised Rex a duel if he won against Joey."

"What are you doing?" Rex shouted at him, "Are you seriously going to leave the outcome of this duel up to a single spin? Do you know what happens if the hand lands on a skull?"

"It'll self-destruct and take out a chunk of my life points," Joey replied shrugging, "But its a risk I'm gonna take, go Time Roulette!" The hand on Time Wizard's staff began to spin.

"All Joey's got is a chunk of life points," Tristan said worried. "Then let's start praying that thing doesn't land on a skull," Stephanie said putting her hands together, which the others, even Jazmin did as well, hoping with all their might it would land on the red time machine.

"This wouldn't be happening if you just listened to me Rex!" Mai reminded everyone of her presence as she shouted at the brunette duelist.

"Ya know ya can't always boss people around Mai," Joey told her, "Sooner or later they're gonna have enough 'n' that's exactly what happened," Everyone watched with baited breath as the arrow started to slow down, "Only it just might cost him his best card." And sure enough, the arrow landed on a time machine, making Joey and his friends cheer, Liliya being the loudest.

"No!" Rex shouted in horrified-shock. "Go Time Warp!" Joey ordered his spellcaster. Time Wizard raised his staff and shouted in a robotic voice, "Time Magic!"

A vortex opened above the field as eons began to pass on the field in mere seconds, creating large bursts of wind that forced everyone to shield their faces. Soon, the wind died down as the time warp came to a stop, everyone looked up and gasped to see Rex's dragon had been turned to solid stone.

"He-He's been fossilized..." Tea whispered. "So that's a fossil..." Akira whispered as well in amazement.

"No he hasn't, he may be a bit pale but that's natural!" Mai shouted at them, then turned on Rex, who was still stunned by what just happened, "Go and ordered him to attack Rex, go on!"

"Err...right...Red Eyes...um...attack..." Rex stuttered unsurely only for his dragon to start falling apart at the joints and turn to rubble, "No!"

"The millions of years that Joey's Time Wizard made pass reduced Rex's dragon into a brittle, fragile shell of dust," Yugi said as Rex's life points dropped for the final time.

 **Rex LPs: 0**

"So you won my Star Chips huh?" Rex asked as Joey sighed in relief. "And your Red Eyes Black Dragon and the Dragon Nails card," Joey replied with a smirk, "Since it was on the field too when ya made that bet." Rex sighed in response in begrudging defeat as the platforms lowered them back to the ground.

As soon as he jumped off the arena, Joey rushed to Liliya, much to his friends surprises. Imagine everyone else's surprises when she hugged him, praising, "I knew you could do it Joey!" She shrieked in surprise when he grabbed her around the waist and spun her around in his elation, the sight made Akira starry-eyed, instantly reminding her of the romantic scenes in Camp Pining Hearts, while Stephanie and Itzel smiled, the shorter of the two giggling, Jazmin couldn't help the amused smirk as she watched as well.

"I did it!" Joey whooped as he spun her around, "I really won!"

Liliya giggled once she was back on her feet, "You were great!" They smiled at each other, blushing at their closeness as the elation wore off.

"You did do great Joey," Tristan said breaking the sudden silence. "I think I owe ya guys an apology, mostly you Tristan," Joey said as he let go of Liliya, "I really am sorry."

"Hey, don't worry about it, ya had every right to be angry, I would've been too had I been in your place," Tristan said remembering what Stephanie and Itzel had told him, "I should've had more faith in you," Suddenly, he walked over and grabbed Joey, easily putting him in a headlock and began giving him a noogie, much to Liliya's shock, "Now c'mere you!"

"Hey!" Joey whined as he struggled to escape his headlock and noogie, "Tristan! Lemme go, lemme go, lemme go!" The others all watched with sweat-drops, save Jazmin who was trying not to laugh.

"Glad I'm not Joey right now," Stephanie commented with a shake of her head, "Nope." The others all nodded in agreement.

* * *

 **And that'll be that, it was certainly a hoot to write and its about time I finally gave Joey a duel, I was starting to worry myself for a second.**

 **Anyways, looks like its gonna be Rex, Leon and Mako as our extra three finalists in the Semi Finals, as there are eight in this version instead of the original four in the Anime. Poor Stephanie and Mai, they're the only girls! Lol!**

 **Anyways, I'm still looking for song suggestions as well as shipping names outside Yugi X Stephanie, who I am affectionately naming Starcrossed, thank you again foxchick1, and Joey X Lapis Lazuli, which I am naming SeaPuppy, which I came up with myself. So let me know if any ideas come your way.**

 **Other than all that, all I can say is:**

 **Until next time everyone, bye for now!**


	11. Chapter 11

**To put it simple, I do not own Steven Universe or any of its original characters nor do I own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of its original characters, I can say, however, that I do own Stephanie, her yami and all OCs I chose to make, including original Crystal Beasts, i.e. Bismuth Beaver, and other original cards. If I _did_ own Steven Universe, trust me, things would've been a lot different and if I own Yu-Gi-Oh there would've been a way for Atem to stay and have all his memories.**

 **Now to review replies:**

 **foxchick1: Glad you liked it, hope you like this one!**

 **GemmaCartney: Thanks and you're right, poor Joey indeed! Lol. ;P!**

* * *

By the arena, Rex had approached the still celebrating group and got their attention, "Oi Wheeler!" He held out the blonde's prizes, including his prized dragon, "You won them fair and square, I might not like the idea of losing Red-Eyes but I got enough honor to know I made the bet so I have to honor it."

"Rex..." Joey said as everyone smiled, glad to see he wasn't a creep like Underwood, the Gems were glad to know there was more than just Mako with some sense of honor on the island. Joey accepted his prizes, first placing his new Star Chips in his gauntlet then took time to admire both Red-Eyes and the Dragon Nails card as Rex said seriously, "You better take good care of him!"

Joey gave a small smile as he nodded, "Trust me, I will." He then added them both to his deck.

Rex breathed a deep sigh before turning and stuffed his hands in his pockets as he started to walk off. Stephanie couldn't help but feel a bit bad for him, even if she was still happy for Joey's first win, she still felt bad that Rex had lost what was clearly one of his favorite cards.

She stepped away from her group after the dual-haired brunette, calling, "Hey, Rex!"

"Huh?" He questioned turning to look at her. "I hope you make it to the finals," Stephanie told him sincerely, "Watching you duel Joey makes me really excited to duel you too!" She wasn't lying, Rex, for all his forward and brute-force tactics, was a good duelist when his tactics were working out for him, he probably would've won the Regionals too if she wasn't so sure Weevil had some sort of trick.

In fact, watching him duel Joey had made her want to challenge him, but she figured he could use time to nurse his bruised ego. All her time watching her friends lose duels badly taught her some people needed to be alone, as most had rather explosive tempers as times.

Rex blinked at her, taken aback by her sincerity, having honestly expected some kind of hint of challenge, but all he heard and saw on her face was honest excitement for a duel. The way her eyes seemed to sparkle from behind the pink-tinted lenses of her sunglasses made him feel strangely at easy and trusting with her, he felt his cheeks pink a little as he smiled a little, a non-forced, oddly gentle smile he thought he could never smile again as he answered, "Same here...Diamonde..." With that, he walked into the woods, disappearing into the woods.

Stephanie smiled begrudgingly as he left.

Soon, night had fallen and the group was forced to make camp. Of course, lacking any proper camping gear, all they could manage was a decent fire-pit as Jazmin and Itzel set logs around it so they didn't have to sit on the cold hard ground. Now they were all sitting as Tristan tried to spook everyone with his best attempts of a made up on the spot ghost story.

"And when they finally looked in the back seat of the car," Tristan said wrapping up his story, "It was over twenty pepperoni and cheese pizzas." Akira was the only disguised Gem who got the bad attempt of humor and laughed along side the teens, while the other three just shared confused looks.

"That's the lamest ghost story I've ever heard," Joey stated. "Did I mention the pizzas..." Tristan said with a spooky voice and waggled his fingers in attempt to be creepy, "Had no crusts?" There was a frightened squeak but not from Joey, it came from Stephanie who had jumped into Yugi's lap at his words, knocking the unprepared boy off the log, taking her with him, much to everyone else's amusements as the two looked at each other blushing.

"Really?" Tea asked in disbelief, "You're scared of pizza without crust?"

"Oi!" Stephanie retorted with a mix of a pout and a serious look as she sat up, straddling Yugi as she crossed her arms at the brunette, making Yugi blush harder, "Its not something to laugh at, I grew up around pizza, trust me; its horrifying!" She then shot Tristan a not so playful glare, adding, "Thanks Tristan, now I'm going to have nightmares for weeks." Tristan chuckled sheepishly and held up his hands in mock surrender.

"Oh geez, Yugi!" Stephanie remembered quickly getting up and helping the tomato-faced tri-haired teen up, "I am _so_ sorry, did I hurt you?"

"N-N-No! I'm fine!" Yugi assured, "You're light as a feather, jump on me any time!" Realizing what he said, he blushed harder and said quickly, "Err! I mean, if you're scared you can just hold my hand!" He blushed even harder, "Um! I mean, what I meant was..." He face-palmed, face burning hotter as Stephanie giggled.

But then stomachs started to growl. "While we're not too off the subject of food..." Tea commented as they all turned to Jazmin, who just leaned back, arms crossed.

"I'm afraid you guys finished what was left in the lunch box," Stephanie shrugged sheepishly.

A chuckle was heard making everyone look over to see Mai walking over, munching on a candy bar. "Oh what do you want now?" Liliya asked mood souring, "Joey beat your little lapdog already, plus Miss Diamonde already beat you."

"What, can't a girl join you for dinner?" Mai asked innocently as opened her knapsack showing them the food inside, "I overheard you ran out."

"Yeah right," Tristan said frowning at her, "And while we're eating you'll swipe Joey's, Pink's and Yugi's Star Chips, do you think we're stupid?" Mai rolled her eyes at him.

"Look, by tomorrow I'll have enough Star Chips to get into the castle," Mai told them, "I don't need a knapsack full of food since the semi-finals are cartering should I get there, what do you say?"

"I say forget it," Liliya stated bluntly. "But it would be nice to duel tomorrow without an empty stomach," Yugi pointed out as stomachs growled once more. Liliya cringed at the sound and looked at Stephanie who took off her glasses to give her puppy-dog eyes, making Liliya cave, "Fine..." She then glared warningly at Mai, "But I swear if this is some sort of trick, I'll-"

"Oh calm down sweetie, this is on the up and up," Mai replied and soon all the food was in front of everyone, "But before we eat, the boys need to do their chores," She then turned to said boys, "Yugi can get some firewood, Tristan and Joey can go get some water."

"Sheesh, first she insults us," Joey muttered as he and Tristan walked off, "Now she orders us around, what a bitch." Tristan just patted his friend't shoulder.

"I'll get the firewood," Yugi said not wanting to argue and the women all nodded as he walked off as well.

"You know girls," Mai said making them all look at her, "There's a portable shower over there, why not go freshen up?"

Stephanie froze with wide eyes, hand instinctively going to clutch where her shirt covered her gemstone. Her brain quickly searched for an excuse.

"Thanks, but," Akira said gesturing from herself to her fellow Gems, "We're good." Liliya, Itzel and Jazmin nodded in agreement.

"Pinkamena?" Mai asked. "Tea can go first," Stephanie smiled hoping it didn't look too forced, "I...I have this...this scar...it's really embarrassing..." Both human girls gave sympathetic and understanding looks. Tea walked off for the shower with Mai right behind her.

"That girl...is hard to read," Jazmin finally spoke up, remaining four's attention. "What do you mean?" Akira asked confused.

"Well, earlier she wanted nothing more than to scare Ros-" Jazmin started. "Stephanie!" All four corrected automatically, making sure to keep their voices low so Mai and Tea, and anyone else nearby couldn't hear.

"Whatever," Jazmin rolled her eyes without skipping a beat, "By kicking one of the organics off the island and now look what's she's doing."

"Yeah, being rather nice and she's sharing food when she doesn't have too," Itzel added. "I still think its some kind of trick," Liliya muttered bitterly looking up at the moon and stars.

A few minutes later, the boys returned. After adding some branches to the fire, Stephanie put together what she could and began to cook it over the fire, remembering what she could from her the camp trips with her father and Sour Cream, humming one of her father's songs as she did.

"You sure know how to cook Pink," Yugi complimented as she stirred the pot. "Yeah, I was kinda expecting one of you girls to be doing the cooking," Tristan admitted earning pointed looks from the older four. "Yeah, I mean, not everyday ya meet a rich kid that knows how tah cook by 'emselves," Joey pointed out watching Stephanie dice a mushroom easily in her hand without so much as grazing her fingers with the knife.

"My dad's pretty much wants me to be independent from the get-go," Stephanie admitted with a bittersweet smile, "He knows I'm not going to be wanting to stay at the nest forever, so he wants me to know how to take care of myself, unlike how he was when he was starting out in life."

"I think its actually really amazing on his part," Yugi smiled, "Most parents don't really prepare their kids all that much for the real world so quick." Stephanie shrugged and continued to hum.

"It's called," Mai called over from the shower, "Letting her become a woman."

But then, a scream pierced the air, coming from Tea, who was still in the shower, making everyone jump and whirl around in shock. "What the-?" Akira yelped once again jumping into Itzel's arms from fright. "What's wrong?" Liliya asked as she, Jazmin and Stephanie ran over and the boys held back in case Tea was undressed.

"I heard something in the bushes outside," Tea answered peeking her head out from behind the curtain, making the four present women share a look.

Stephanie and Liliya remained at the front with Tea while Jazmin and Mai walked either side of the shower till they met behind it, looking for anything out of the ordinary. But they saw nothing nor anyone.

"Well," Mai said as she and Jazmin walked back around, "Whatever or whoever it was, they're long gone now."

Stephanie couldn't help looking around the corner of the shower with a concerned expression, thinking, _'Why do I have a bad feeling all of a sudden?'_

Tea got out, re-clothed and Stephanie stepped in. She released a shuddering breath as she listened to a few pairs of foot-prints leaving. "Its just me and Jasper, Steph," Liliya softly assured through the curtain and she relaxed.

She then peeled off her shirts, albeit, slow and a little hesitant then her sandals, Tea's scare fresh in her mind. As she handed her clothes to Jazmin she paused to look down at her mother's gemstone, sitting innocently in the place of an ordinary bellybutton, its pink hue predominant and noticeable against her natural peachy skin, even in the lack of light a cloud night. She shivered as the tips of her fingertips brushed over the surface of the top of the pentagonal facet. Just what mess did her mother drag her into this time around? When were all the surprises and twists and lies going to end?

After her shower, she changed into a strapless dress colored in a shade of pink Jenny had called 'fairy tale', its skirt was layered and stopped an inch above the knees, the top one was the same 'fairy tale' pink, the first middle layer styled to the right was a shade of pink Jenny had called 'Mimi Pink', the second layer, which was styled to the left was a shade Jenny called 'Queen Pink' and the fourth and final layer was a chilean pink. She honestly wasn't that big of a fan of the dress, as it reminded her a lot of her mother's signature gown, just shorter, but when Connie had pointed out the similarity, Jenny had insisted she try it and then got it for her, so she couldn't say no.

She wore a pair of white stockings with carnation pink hearts under the knees and behind the mid-shin. She replaced her sandals with a pair of Persian pink ballet shoes, which she had gotten as a way to keep at least one of the Crystal Gems with her. She wore a pair of charm pink bangles and, of course, her mother's locket, a matching silver five-pointed, cartoonish star to pin up some of her thick, curly bangs and a pair of round cut pink zircon earrings in a silver dang-setting. To finish the outfit was a congo pink sash was tied around her abdomen, the deep color kept her gemstone hidden and the silky feeling wasn't all together entirely unpleasant against her gemstone and was long enough that she could wrap it several times to hide the indentations from the gem itself.

When she, Liliya and Jazmin re-joined the group, a wonderful smell hit her nose, prompting her to ask, "Is the stew done already?"

Yugi turned to answer, only to cut himself off with a double-take at her, speechless.

"Yeah 'n' it tastes great!" Joey chirped after swallowing a spoonful of stew as Liliya promptly walked over and sat next to him after making Tristan scoot over. "Nice to know," Stephanie giggled both at the praise and at how Joey blushed at Liliya choosing to sit next to him.

"You dance ballet?" Tea asked with wide, excited eyes when she spotted the girl's shoes. "Yeah, do you?" Stephanie replied without any hesitation. "Not really, I'm saving for lessons," Tea said bashfully.

"Huh, never had that problem," Stephanie commented with a little shrug, "Pearl...she's been teaching me since I was, like, three or four."

"You've been learning ballet since you were three?" Tea and Mai asked in shock. "Could've started when I was four," Stephanie shrugged in response, "I just wanted to spend time with her."

"For a rich kid, you really are a great cook," Tristan said sincerely with a smile, "Five stars." Stephanie and Itzel shifted a little uncomfortably at the last part, but smiled anyways way.

"Speaking of stars," Yugi said as he turned to Mai as Stephanie sat next to him, "You said you almost have ten Star Chips yourself Mai, how many eight or nine?"

"Don't try to butter me up with praise Yugi," Mai replied seriously as she stopped eating to look at him pointedly, "In this tournament we're going to have to face each other sooner or later."

"Can we please not talk about the tournament right now?" Tea asked quickly seeing the look on Liliya's face, "Can't we all just spend sometime together talking about normal, none-dueling related things?"

"Fine, but know this, any duelist who gets in my way is gonna get crushed," Mai answered as she stood up, "I don't care who it is, now if you'll excuse me, I'm going for a walk." With that, she left, causing the teens and sole hybrid to share looks of concern as the Gems continued to eat as if nothing had happened.

"Do you think we should follow her?" Stephanie asked worriedly.

"She'll be fine, she's a grown woman," Liliya stated simply, "Besides, if anyone challenges her, I'm sure her and her Harpies will give them a rude a-reckoning." That said, she continued eating as Yugi and Stephanie shared an unsure look.

Unknown to anyone was that a tall, dark figure had followed Mai as she left the group from the bushes. Once she was a fair distance from the group, he pounced, clamping a hand over her mouth to prevent her crying out for help and then dragged her off.

Soon, everyone had finished eating and smiled at the feeling of being full, which Tristan commented on, "Oh yeah...that hit the spot."

"Never had stew before," Itzel added reaching to pat Stephanie's head, "Good job there Miss Diamonde." Stephanie practically glowed at the praise.

"Hey, its been a while since Mai left," Tea noted with concern, "Shouldn't we go look for her now?" Before anyone could respond, something moved in the bushes behind her and Akira, making them both scream and jump away, the technician once again jumping into someone's arms, this time Tea's arms. "What is that?" Akira shrieked in fright as the others jumped to their feet, the other Gems resisting the urge to summon their weapons/abilities.

"Ya better come out," Joey warned, "Before we drag ya out."

A person stepped out in response, a person the teens seemed to recognize.

He was roughly around Liliya's height, maybe an inch shorter with mid-back-long white hair with soft spikes pointing downwards and soft brown eyes, being fair skinned. He was wearing a white wool sweater with a green undershirt and light gray jeans with a pair of dark grey sneakers with white toes, soles and laces.

Akira recognized him as well, having seen that white hair before, "You!" She hopped out of Tea's arms and boldly walked right up to the guy, pointing at him as she added, "I saw you watching us before the tournament started!"

"Bakura?" Tristan asked in surprise, "What are you doing on the island?"

"About the same as you guys, I guess," The newly christened Bakura answered with a shrug as he stepped back from Akira.

"You guys know him?" Itzel asked. "Yeah we go to school together," Yugi answered. "School?" Itzel asked confused, which confused the teens.

"You gave us quite the scare there," Tristan chuckled it off, "Creeping around in those those bushes like that."

"Yeah," Joey added with a goofy grin, "We thought we had something to worry about."

Despite this being said, the Gems and Stephanie couldn't help feeling something off about Bakura, particularly, to Stephanie, the way he was smiling. Liliya shivered, feeling a similar presence to what she had felt around Yugi, only it felt much darker, more intense and almost...smothering. She could tell with a glance that Jazmin, Itzel and Akira could feel it too. As for Stephanie, she saw a thick black aura around Bakura and it made her anxious.

Soon the group, plus Bakura were once again sitting around the fire. Liliya noticed Joey had taken a card out of his deck and was staring at it for a while now, so she asked, "You've been staring at the Flames Swordsman for a while Joey, what's up?"

Joey blushed at getting caught, "Promise none of ya will laugh?" They all nodded, "Sometimes...sometimes I pretend its me out there on the field fightin' whatevah monster my opponent's summoned, pretty stupid, huh?"

"I don't think its stupid," Stephanie said gaining everyone's attention, "To be honest...when I watch my friend's duel back home, I used to do the exact same thing, I'd always picture it in my head; that the two monsters were real and I was one of them, it was just...exciting I guess."

"Well, if you really were what card would you be?" Bakura asked and it was unclear who he was talking to, Stephanie or Joey.

"Ah, that's easy," Joey answered before Stephanie could react, jumping to his feet and pretended to swing a sword, "The Flame Swordsman kicks butt every time!" Liliya, Akira and Stephanie all giggled in amusement, finding his antics cute.

"Not my guy," Tristan remarked taking out a card of his own, "The Cyber Commander."

"You guys and your cards," Tea said with an amused smile. "Well, what's yours then Tea?" Stephanie asked curiously.

"Oh that's easy," Tea replied without hesitation as she shifted through her own deck, before showing a card with the picture of a woman in a purple robe with reddish hair holding a staff, "I choose the Magician of Faith."

"More like the Magician of Freaks if ya ask me," Joey snickered. "Ah shut up!" Tea shouted at him, making everyone laugh.

"What about you girls?" Bakura asked the unfamiliar group of women. "We haven't dueled before, so it doesn't seem logical to have a favorite card yet," Akira answered shifting uncertainly next to him. "Really, not once?" Bakura blinked in surprise and they all nodded save for Stephanie, who looked down with saddened eyes.

"Yeah, you mentioned someone sent you those decks in the mail," Yugi commented remembering the fact, "You sure you don't have one, just in appearance or power-wise?"

"Hmm, well..." Akira admitted as she got out her deck and shifted through her cards, "I _am_ a bit of a fan of Lady Heat," She showed the card to be of a young girl in a white body suit surrounded by flames, "She might seem a little weak, but her powers grant a surprising burn."

"Hmm," Bakura leaned in surprising her as her faced flushed darkly at the proximity, "She suits you." Akira said nothing.

"I've always been more...partial to cats," Jazmin said as she held up her sole Beast monster, "If I could be any monster, it'd be Amazoness Pet Tiger, hands down."

"What about you Itzel?" Tristan asked. "Well, that's kinda hard to say..." Itzel admitted as she looked through her deck, "But if I had to pick one...it'd be..." She held up a card, "This bad boy, Blizzard Dragon!"

"What monster would you be Liliya?" Joey asked curiously. "If had to chose one to become," Liliya said picking a card from her deck, "It'd be her," She showed a card with a female water nymph wearing a long dress and veil, "Aqua Spirit."

"What's your favorite card Pink?" Yugi asked making the girl jump, having been deep in thought. "Oh, I don't really have a favorite card," Stephanie said without batting an eyelid. "No favorite card?" Joey asked skeptically.

"Yeah, I dunno, call it silly, but..." Stephanie said smiling a little as she looked through her cards, "It just...doesn't feel right to pick favorites for whatever reason, I mean, any card can be powerful with the right combination; it just doesn't strike me as fair," She blushed at the little mini-rant she may or may not have given as they all looked at her in surprise, so she took out a card that, surprisingly, she kept in her suitcase in a special protective seal, "But if I had to pick one if I could become it...it would be this one."

They were all surprised to see it wasn't a beast of any kind, rather, the picture showed a beautiful young woman with orangey-red hair and wearing a white dress. They were especially stunned to see it had seven stars, meaning it was a pretty powerful card. Yet, it wasn't in her deck.

"Guardian Angel Joan?" Yugi read the name aloud, "That's a really rare Fairy-type monster, where did you get her?"

"My big brother gave her to me for my birthday when he saw how much I really liked watching him and his friends duel," Stephanie answered smiling fondly at the memory, "He knew I could get into all sorts of scraps, so when he won her in a local tournament, he gave her to me, thinking she would watch over me and keep me safe, I don't go anywhere without her."

"Its like she's your actual guardian angel," Joey commented with a smile.

"Yeah," Stephanie smiled as well, before turning to Yugi, "So, what's your favorite monster Yugi?"

"The Dark Magician, hands down," Yugi stated without hesitation as he held up his favorite card, before turning to Bakura, "What about you? What card do you like the most?"

"Well," Bakura said getting out his own deck and selecting a card, "I guess you could say this card." His card, to their surprise was a magic card, the picture being of a girl who was half-angel, half-demon; the angel half had light hair with a white dress and the demon half had dark hair and a black dress, holding a floating heart between her hands.

"The Change of Heart magic card?" Yugi asked surprised. "Well, there's nothing wrong with liking magic cards," Stephanie pointed out optimistically. "A bit weird if you ask me," Tristan retorted.

"If you want to see how it works, why don't we have a little duel right now?" Bakura offered with a kind smile, "Not for Star Chips, just for a little fun."

The others all smiled at the idea, even Jazmin and Liliya smiled at the idea.

"I'm down fer it," Joey grinned. "It would be a nice change of pace from all these crazy duels lately," Akira agreed relaxing. "Especially you Yugi," Stephanie added with a smile, making him smile back.

"Why don't you all put your favorite cards in Yugi's deck?" Bakura suggested making them look at him, "That way, it'll be like we're all dueling." They all shared a glance around the campfire before nodding and began handing Yugi their favorite cards.

"But Pink, your lucky card is..." Yugi tried to protest as Stephanie took her Guardian Angel Joan out of its seal. "Its fine, honest," Stephanie assured as she held it out to him, "Maybe she can be your guardian angel too." Yugi slowly accepted the card and shuffled it in with the other cards into his deck.

"Okay, I'm all shuffled," Yugi said but looked at Bakura unsurely, "But are you sure you'll be fine alone?" Bakura just smiled and nodded.

"Don't worry," Itzel teased lightly with a wide smile, "We'll go easy on ya!"

"Thanks," Bakura replied with a smirk, which slowly turned sinister, which made Liliya, Itzel and Jazmin tense. "Huh?" Stephanie blinked as a dark aura suddenly shrouded Bakura, completely wiping out his previously light grey one. _'Little one, let me out,'_ A female voice whispered in the hybrid's head, _'Quickly.'_

"Before we begin there's something I'd like to share with you all," Bakura stated looking Yugi in the eyes, "Especially with you Yugi."

"This is getting freaky," Tea whispered and everyone gasped as a gold glow shone from behind Bakura's sweater and an object appeared to faze through it.

It hung from a rope necklace and was made of solid gold, like Yugi's puzzle and Stephanie's earrings. It was shaped in a large ring-like circle with a pyramid in the middle with the Eye of Horus in the center of it. Attached to the outer side of the ring were little pyramids that hung upside-down. It gave of a dark sensation that made everyone shudder.

"Another Millennium Item!" Yugi said in shock. "Yes," Bakura said smirk still in place, "And the power of my Millennium Ring will take us all to the Shadow Realm."

Both Yugi and Stephanie gasped in shocked-alarm, "The Shadow Realm!"

The Gems were all on their feet in an instant as Jazmin shouted, "Not on our watch you don't!"

"Sorry ladies," Bakura smirked as his item glowed, "But your little comrade has something I want, so does Yugi for that matter, and nothing is going to stand in my way."

00000000000000000

In Pegasus' now almost empty observation room, Amethyst and Ruby had finally reformed, and were watching with worried expressions as they watched over Pearl and Sapphire's gemstones. But worry turned to fear and alarm as the glow from the white-haired boy's object turned into flashes of light that struck the others, making them all gasp in startled-pain, before they all fell to the ground, eyes dark and lifeless.

Ruby reacted first, "STEPHANIE!" A warning buzz from her collar forced her to calm down.

00000000000000000

Bakura smirked wickedly as he stood, watching with a sort of curious-satisfaction as orbs of light rose from each teen's chest, including Stephanie, before settling into Yugi's deck, but not from the fakes. He knew they weren't human the moment he saw them through his host's eyes, having sensed the same auras that the spirit of the puzzle had coming from the stones they kept hidden, which were keeping his own magic from removing the four's souls. But it didn't bother him, his power was strong enough to keep them subdued so he can get what he came for.

 _'Their souls have been locked away,'_ Bakura thought as he approached the still forms of Yugi and Stephanie, taking a moment to brush a ebony black and rose pink curl out of her face, _'And now, after countless centuries, the Millennium Puzzle and Earrings, are finally mine,'_ He reached for Yugi's puzzle first, but was stopped when it began to glow and Yugi's appearance changed before he got up as Bakura whispered in shock, "This cannot be..." But another glow caught his attention, followed shortly by a third one, which once again merged together as Stephanie's form change as well and as she got up, a wave of light golden light washed over the area as the shape under her sash changed shape and got bigger.

Both spirits of the Earrings and Puzzle glared darkly at the other as the female stated coldly, "If you want my Earrings or his Puzzle..." She covered an earring instinctively.

Yugi, likewise, grasped his puzzle protectively as he finished, "You will have to take them, but if I win, you take us all back," He then gasped as Liliya's body glowed a deep blue, Akira's a yellowish-green, Itzel's glowed a periwinkle grayish-blue and Jazmin's glowed a deep orange and their appearances changed a bit, "What is this?"

When the glows did down, they were Lapis Lazuli, Peridot, Bismuth and Jasper again. Stephanie quickly rushed to her fallen Gems, checking their gemstones for any damage and sighed in relief at finding none. "Pink..." Yugi said unsurely. She turned to him and shook her in a silent message, she would explain, but not now, not when they needed to focus.

"Very well Yugi, Pink," Bakura said with a smirk, "But be forewarned, the stakes are much higher than either of you may think," A thick black fog rolled in around them, making the other two tense, "This is one Shadow Game, you will not win."

0000000000000000000

"No, no, no, no, no, nooo!" Amethyst panicked as the strange black fog blocked out the cameras, blocking Stephanie from view, "What's blocking the camera? C'mon!"

Ruby whimpered, wanting desperately for Sapphire to be there to tell her everything would be alright and they would have their baby girl back soon. At least, she wanted the comfort of holding her partner's gemstone, but whenever she would reach for it, the collar would give a warning buzz until she backed off.

00000000000000000000

"Why have you done this to us Bakura?" Stephanie asked a little harsher than she intended. "Why have you brought us to the Shadow Realm?" Yugi demanded as well.

"I am no longer Bakura," The spirit of the ring stated as what was once Ryou Bakura changed in appearance slightly, he lost his round, innocent features, leaving a slightly older looking sharpness behind. Gravity seemed to lose its power on his hair as four locks seemed to raise up like bat wings, two being part of his bangs and the other two being higher on his head.

He continued to smirk evilly, "I am a thief and a stealer of souls," His eyes trailed over both the Millennium Earrings and the Millennium Puzzle, "And I have done terrible things in my quest to obtain all eight of the Millennium Items, for whoever wields all eight will hold unimaginable power."

"You won't be getting either of our items!" The tri-haired spirit stated fiercely. "Then let the Shadow Game begin," Bakura stated rather calmly.

The boys then sat across from each other with a stump between them as their field, spirit of the earrings simply sat between them on one of the stumps sides, hands clasped patiently in her lap as she asked, "Are you sure you don't want me to duel instead?"

"I'm sure _Hime_ ," He assured smirking oh so slightly as her face flushed a little at the return of the pet name. "The first move is yours," Bakura stated as they drew their first five cards.

 **Bakura LPs: 2000**

 **Yami LPs: 2000**

"My first card shall be the Cyber Commander," The spirit of the puzzle stated as he played his first card, "Tristan's favorite card."

He and the spirit of the earrings both gasped in shock as a light shone on the card before a miniature version of the Cyber Commander appeared, but it wasn't the dark skinned, black-haired man that appeared. It was Tristan, dressed in the Cyber Commander's sash of bullets, four-rocket launcher on one shoulder, metal pack on his back and metal mouth guard, his only form of proper clothes were a pair of dark blue camouflage military pants and a pair of dark brown combat boots and he was holding a bazooka gun.

 **Cyber Commander. Attribute: DARK. Tribe: MACHINE. Lv: 2. ATK/DEF: 750/700**

"That's not the Cyber Commander!" The spirit of the earrings gasped in shocked-horror, "Its..."

Tristan finally opened his eyes groggily and looked down at him and yelped in shock, speechless at the sight of the bazooka launcher in his hands, muttering, "What a weird dream..."

The spirit of the puzzle said in shock, "Tristan!" Prompting the brunette to turn and scream in shock at seeing the MUCH bigger male.

"His...his soul..." The spirit of the earrings said in shock, "He must've put their souls into their favorite cards!" Tristan turned at her voice and once again screamed to see the MAJOR size difference.

"He looks tough," Bakura acknowledged once again eliciting a frightened scream from Tristan when the brunette noticed him, "But can he defeat the White Magical Hat?" He played a card of his own, summoning his own monster, which was a tall man in a purple suit wearing a white cape with red innings with a red bow-tie, a white shirt and gloves, and a white top hat that had a purple band.

 **White Magical Hat. Attribute: LIGHT. Tribe: SPELLCASTER/EFFECT. Lv: 3. ATK/DEF: 1000/700**

With a bone-chilling smile, Bakura ordered, "Attack." His monster ran at Tristan, who was still too confused to properly react.

"Man, I'm having a nightmare!" Tristan shouted, "This can't be real!" He was then hit and disappeared with a flash of red light.

Both spirits of the puzzle and earrings shouted, "Tristan!" But it was the sole female who demanded, "Where is he?"

 **Yami LPs: 1750**

"Well, the card was destroyed and it had your friend's soul in it," Bakura told them, "So he has gone to the Graveyard." The spirit of the earrings gasped in horror.

"No..." The spirit of the puzzle said in shocked-horror, looking over his shoulder at Tristan's body, "He can't be gone."

"When you duel in the Shadow Realm, the stakes are always high," Bakura stated cruelly as the spirit of the ring covered her mouth as she willed herself not to cry, much to Bakura's amusement, "You made a very poor move and now your friend has paid for it with his very soul."

 _'I'd avoid playing the monsters with my friends' souls in them, but to save them I need to win,'_ The spirit thought backed into a corner as he looked at his hand, _'And I only have one card that can beat his White Magical Hat,'_ Reluctant, he made his move, "The Flame Swordsman, Joey's favorite card."

Like before, as the monster appeared, it wasn't the same monster from before. It was Joey, dressed in the Flame Swordsman's blue and orange garb, brown pants and boots, blonde hair poking out from under his thick orange helmet, sword in hand.

 **Flame Swordsman. ATK/DEF: 1800/1600**

"Huh...? What's goin' on?" Joey asked confused as he looked down at himself, "Yug' what's..." He cut himself off with a startled and very frightened scream when he turned around and saw what was behind him, "Giant Yugi!" He then noticed the spirit of the earrings and screamed again, "Giant Pink!"

"Joey you need to listen to us," The tri-haired spirit said seriously, "You've been trapped inside your favorite card."

The female spirit then added, "You've become the Flame Swordsman."

"I'm the who?" Joey shouted in shock. "If I don't win this duel we can't restore you to normal," The spirit of the puzzle told him, "If you're defeated in this battle you'll be sent to the Graveyard just like Tristan was."

Joey gulped at the thought and whimpered, "G-G-G-Graveyard?" The sole conscious female elbowed the shorter duelist in the side, making him grunt in surprise, which made Bakura snicker.

"In order for Yugi to win this duel," The spirit of the earrings said more gently, "Restore you and the others to normal and get us all out of the Shadow Realm, we need your help."

"O-Okay," Joey said with a deep breath, "I can do this."

"Are you sure Joey?" The spirit of the puzzle asked. "Do I have much of a choice?" The blonde quipped making the female spirit giggle, "I'll kick all the butt ya need, now who am I facin'?" He turned and shrunk back in surprise at seeing Bakura, "Giant Bakura? This is nuts; I'm six inches tall, wearin' a dress 'n' about tah fight one of mah friends!"

" _That_ is _**not**_ Bakura," The friendlier male spirit stated with venom in his voice, "An evil spirit within the Millennium Ring has overtaken him."

"An evil spirit, great," Joey sighed shaking his head, "As if we didn't have enough tah worry about," He hefted his sword up and charged White Magical Hat with a battle cry, cleaving the spellcaster in two, "Say goodbye tah the Cat in the Hat!"

"Nice work Joey," The two-toned spirit smiled encouragingly as she stuck out her thumb and lowered it for Joey to high-five it, which he did. "Yeah, this ain't so bad!" The blonde grinned widely at his win.

"Your little swordsman got lucky Yugi," Bakura said calmly as his own life points dropped his time, before playing a card face-down in defense mode, "But not this time."

 **Bakura LPs: 1200**

His move confused both other spirits. "Why did he play that card face-down?" The shortest of the three asked confused, prompting a shrug from the spirit of the puzzle.

"Cause he's scared of what Joey the Flame Swordsman will do tah it!" Joey exclaimed and before either of his giant friends could stop him, he charged it without a second thought, "I'm goin' fer it!"

Both spirits of the earrings and puzzle shouted, "Wait!" But it was too late, the monster revealed itself to be a grinning black blob inside of a dark bluish jar.

 **Morphing Jar. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: ROCK/EFFECT. Lv: 2. ATK/DEF: 700/600**

It lunged at the blonde, who sliced it in two cleanly with a grin.

"What a dolt," Bakura chuckled in amusement. "It was a Morphing Jar," The tri-haired spirit said grimly, which prompt Joey to turn to him with a worried look on his face.

"Morphin' Jar?" Joey asked both confused and concerned, "Did I mess up?"

"When a Morphing Jar is destroyed _both_ players discard their entire hand to the Graveyard," The male spirit replied but let out a small relieved sigh, "We're lucky though, as I didn't have anyone else's card in my hand at the moment."

Joey cringed at the close call and bowed his head in apology, "Sorry Yug'." He flinched at a large feeling touching his head gently, but smiled a little as it rubbed the back of it gently in comfort. He smiled up at the female spirit appreciatively, which made her smile back.

The male spirit drew his new hand after putting his prior one into the Graveyard pile. His eyes widened when he saw Guardian Angel Joan in his hand. Bakura, however, merely chuckled as he discarded his own hand and drew a new one.

"With a new hand, comes a new perspective," The dark spirit said decisively summoning another face-down monster, "The game, ever shifting; new dangers surround every turn."

 _'He's just trying to psyche me out, but I can't risk it, I can't risk her,'_ He thought before summoning Stephanie's lucky card, keeping his voice neutral, "Guardian Angel Joan."

He sucked in his breath as Stephanie appeared wearing her angel's long white medieval dress and tight, hollowed-patterned leather bodice lightly lined with gold, linked to a long cape that was slit into two long stripes that were wrapped around her arms. She wore a pair of silver armbands lined with gold with matching thick bracelets, a faltering gold belt and a pair of leather sandals. All of which were modified to her shorter, less hourglass-perfect frame. A pair of translucent golden wings sprouted from her back and a heart-shaped cut out framed her gemstone.

 **Guardian Angel Joan. Attribute: LIGHT. Tribe: FAIRY/EFFECT. Lv: 7. ATK/DEF: 2800/200**

"Ugh...did anyone get the name of the Corrupted Gem that ran me over?" Stephanie asked without realizing where she was or who she was talking to as she rubbed her eyes sleepily, but once her vision cleared, she blinked at noticing her new bracelets and looked herself over, "Huh? Hey, wh-what's going on? What's happening?" She yelped when her wings kicked in and she accidentally lifted herself off the ground, "When did I get wings?" She fell with another yelp, but thankfully Joey caught her, much to her relief, "Ugh, thanks Jo-" She cut herself upon noticing his own state of dress, "What happened to you?"

"Pink, somethin' really weird is goin' on!" Joey explained as he set her down, "We've been turned intah our favorite cards!"

Stephanie's eyes widened at this and they got wider when she turned to see both spirits of her and Yugi's Millennium Items. It made her shiver to stare up at her doppelganger's magenta eyes, being reminded of the small glimpse of Pink Diamond back on Jungle Moon through a reflection during one of her strange dreams. The late Diamond had deep pink eyes too.

"You...you're the other Yugi that always appears whenever he duels!" Stephanie said pointing up at him making him nod with a warm smile, she then looked up at her own other-self with confusion, "But if your me and I'm down here...I'm so confused!" All three spirits couldn't help chuckling a little at her admittance as she rubbed her head.

"Its a bit of a long story, I'm afraid..." Her taller double told her, "But for now, all I can ask is that you trust him," She tilted her head to the shorter male spirit, "And help him win this duel." Stephanie looked up at Bakura unsurely for a moment before nodding determinedly, once more spreading her new wings, ready to fight, seeing no other choice.

"Now I play the magic card Dark Magic Curtain," Other-Yugi said playing a magic card, which created a tall chute of wine red curtain with a skull atop, "For half my life points, I can spell summon the Dark Magician from my deck." A pair of skeleton arms reached down and pulled the sides of the curtain open, revealing a shadowed figure as Other-Yugi's life points were cut in half.

 **Yami LPs: 875**

The figure revealed itself to be the real Yugi dressed in the Dark Magician's dark purple robes and lighter armor, holding the spellcaster's green staff, everything, like Stephanie, had been modified to fit his much shorter stature. Yugi groaned as he came to and looked around confused, he gasped at seeing Joey, but blushed a bit at the sight of Stephanie's outfit.

"I then play Monster Reborn," Other-Yugi continued playing another magic card, "To bring Tristan back from the Graveyard."

"Tristan!" Joey cheered in relief to see his friend, who opened his eyes and saw where he was. "Joey, Pink, Yugi, are you guys dreaming too?" Tristan asked as his blonde friend glomped him.

"This ain't a dream," Joey stated, "This is me goin' nuts." Stephanie giggled at this.

"Besides, this is way too real to be a dream," Stephanie added as she flapped her wings to prove her point, taking Tristan by surprise and glided over. "Just a second ago, I was up there," Yugi added as well looking at his other self rather calmly all things considered. "Same here," Stephanie agreed crossing her arms in confusion, wondering if her powers had something to do with any of this.

"But if the two of you are down here," Joey said pointing at the ground, before pointing to his friends' other selves, "Then who are they?"

Stephanie just shrugged, genuinely clueless, "No idea."

"Really?" Her other-self asked making everyone look at the smaller hybrid, who struck a thinking pose whilst mid-air. "Well..." She admitted, "Ever since I dueled Pegasus it always feels like there's someone right there with me, especially when I dueled Mai."

"And sometimes I hear a strong voice coming from my puzzle," Yugi added making both spirits smile and nod.

"But...what do we call 'em?" Joey asked confused, "It'll get confusin' if we call the both of youse Yugi 'n' Pink."

"How about Yami?" Stephanie suggested making the three blink at her, surprised, "What? I'm home-schooled and I get bored," She glanced up at the spirit of the puzzle, who arched a brow at her, "It means darkness if I remember correctly, I just thought it kinda fits, seeing as he's kinda another side to Yugi."

"Call yourself whatever you like," Bakura spoke up, reminding them to his presence, smirking still, "Make your move."

"That guy's really startin' tah annoy me," Joey growled preparing to launch another attack, "I'm gonna shut 'im up!"

"Hold on Joey," Stephanie stopped him by gliding forward, "Tristan and I were summoned so one of us needs to attack, plus I think my card's ability will help out," Without warning, she flew forth and spun gracefully in her attack as if she always had wings, "Celestial Arc!" The edges of her cape glowed with a golden, heavenly light as she slashed at Bakura's monster, which revealed itself to be yet another Morphing Jar, which didn't stand a chance against her celestial magic, making the others gasp.

"Another Morphing Jar!" Other-Yugi said as Stephanie returned to his field. Stephanie, remembering the card's effect as Jenny had one, cringed, "Oops, sorry."

"Its okay Pink," Joey comforted, "I made the same mistake," As he said this, Stephanie began to glow gold as she clutched her hands as if in prayer, much to Joey and Tristan's surprise, "What's going on? Is she alright?"

"It's her special power," Yugi grinned, "Whenever she destroys a monster she can transfer that monster's attack and add it to Yami's life points," He jumped when a soft pink light glowed from her gemstone, finally bringing everyone attention to it, "What is that?" The light washed over Yami, who shivered at the warm sensation as his life points increased.

 **Yami LPs: 1575**

Stephanie gasped, realizing her gemstone was showing and snapped out of her prayer to cover it, panicked.

"Pink?" Tristan asked stunned to see she had a gemstone as well a pentagonal shaped pink one to be exact. She looked away, unable to look them in the eyes.

"So your little friend hasn't told you about her heritage, has she?" Bakura mused in amusement, "How interesting." Stephanie looked up at with a slightly surprised, yet more upset stare. How did he know?

"That isn't important right now," Other-Stephanie stated with a stern glare that could freeze magma, "Tea's card is still in the deck and the Morphing Jar's ability is still in motion." Yami nodded and discarded his hand once again, as did Bakura.

But when Yami drew a new hand, he gasped in shocked-alarm, "The Magician of Faith." This made his fellow spirit go wide-eyed as the four on the field gulped in worry and Bakura chuckled in amusement.

"Isn't that Tea's favorite card?" He asked in false curiosity, "Perhaps you should play it to see if it contains her mortal soul," He then summoned another monster face-down, "However, you don't know what I'm playing here." He then played a card face down.

"Tea's soul is not safe in my hand," Yami said grimly, having no other choice but to play it, "I will have to play it." No sooner did he set the card down did Tea pop up from under it wearing her monster's more traditional deep purple robe over a baggy wine-red yutaka, complete with the head-ring, gold-rope belt and bronze staff with its crescent moon topper.

 **Magician of Faith. Attribute: LIGHT. Tribe: SPELLCASTER/FLIP/EFFECT. Lv: 1. ATK/DEF: 300/400**

Not realizing what was going on, Tea simply smiled, "Hey guys, what's up?" Making everyone else sweat-drop and gulp.

"Aw crap!" Tristan and Joey cursed as they and Yugi quickly stood in front of her, trying to block her from view. Stephanie helped out by dropping down in front of them in a crouch-position and stretching her wings in an extra effort, whilst muttering to herself and Yugi, "Oh boy..."

"Uh...guys...?" Tea asked confused. "Shsssh!" Joey hissed, "Be quiet!"

"Isn't it a little early to be dressing up for Halloween?" Tea asked in response, still not noticing anything off. "Tea, to keep a long story short, we've all been turned into our favorite cards," Tristan explained which further confused Tea, "By an evil version of Bakura and now a giant version of Yugi is dueling for our very souls!"

"But Yugi's right here..." Tea said motioning to her fellow spellcaster with her staff, which was when she finally noticed it with a startled gasp. "I know its confusing Tea, but trust us," Yugi whispered. "It all has something to do with Bakura's ring, my earrings and Yugi's puzzle," Stephanie added as Tea gasped at the sight of her wings, "Its all some form of magic."

"Magic?" Tea asked holding her head, "Now I know I'm not crazy."

"Not unless we're all crazy," Tristan said before remembering Stephanie's original group, "Wait, what about Itzel and the others?" No one commented on how he signaled Itzel's name out.

"They're fine," Stephanie answered, "I don't think Yami's drawn their cards yet."

"Whose Yami?" Tea asked but was ignored. "Tea, I know this is confusing, but please," Stephanie pleaded, "Just stay out of sight for now," Tea nodded and lowered herself to be better covered by her card as Yami set a card face-down behind her, Stephanie then lifted herself into the air as her hands glowed golden, "I'll take out his monster."

"Stephanie wait!" Other-Stephanie shouted without thinking, which caught everyone else's attention. _'Stephanie?'_ They all, even Bakura, thought in confusion, but the spirit shook it off first.

"You've activated my trap card," Bakura told them, "Dark Spirit of the Silent, this card stops your attack and forces another monster to attack instead." A ghostly spirit appeared on the field and flew at them.

"Watch out!" Stephanie shouted moved to the side out of reflex as it flew by her. It struck Yugi, who cried out in pain, "ACK!" He began to shake as the need to attack began to build within him.

"It doesn't matter how hard you try to fight the spirit," Bakura stated cruelly with a smirk as Yugi gritted his teeth as he was forced to slowly raise his sceptre, preparing to attack, "You'll attack one way or another."

"Yugi!" Stephanie and Tea cried out in worry. Joey added, "Fight it!"

"I...I..." Yugi said through his teeth, "...can't...!" Finally, he caved and released a ball of dark magic at Bakura's monster, which revealed itself to be a purple lizard with red lips and round red tips on its antenna and sharp teeth.

 **Electric Lizard. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: THUNDER/EFFECT. Lv: 3. ATK/DEF: 850/800**

When it was destroyed, everyone held released a sigh of relief when nothing seemed to happen, until Yugi let out a cry of pain as electrical arches ran across his body, much to Stephanie's horror, "Yugi!" She rushed to his side, kneeling next to him as he dropped to his knees in pain.

"You can't expect to attack the Electric Lizard without suffering shocking consequences," Bakura chuckled in sick-amusement, a cruel smile on his face. Stephanie gritted her teeth, flinching at his tone of his voice, before glaring up at him as she tried in vain to keep herself from crying as she snapped, "Stop!" He arched a brow at her, "Just stop! What did any of us ever do to you?"

Tristan placed a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort but it did little good as Yugi groaned in pain.

Ignoring Stephanie's question and outburst, Bakura played another monster face-down, "I'll place my next card face-down," He smirked as Joey and Tristan tried to hide Tea and Yugi tried to get up to help, but Stephanie stopped him before he could injure himself further, "Don't bother you fools, I can see her perfectly well, and now I have all five of you just where I want you; perfect prey for my Man-Eater Bug."

"I place my next card face-down," Yami distracted his opponent by playing a card face-down.

"Man-Eater?" Tea asked a little relieved as she tried to crack a joke, "Good thing Pink and me are girls, huh?"

"Man as in mankind Tea," Stephanie corrected as she glared at Bakura. "It will destroy any monster once its flipped up," Yugi added through his clenched teeth, making Stephanie shush him.

"Not good," Tea whimpered. "I really don't want to go to the Graveyard again," Tristan added rubbing his arm.

"Don't worry Tristan," Joey assured readying a battle stance, "We'll take out that bug before it can do anythin'."

"No..." Yami interrupted in a serious tone, "If we attack it at all, that card's effect will activate."

Tristan whispered in fear, "Graveyard here I come..." Stephanie looked down in frustration.

"But there has tah be somethin' we can do!" Joey protested, "Without one of us gettin' destroyed along with it," He turned to Yugi, "What about the card Yami just played?"

"Its too much of a risk," Yugi answered, "We don't know what it can do." The others shared a look of worry as Stephanie grinted her teeth before spreading her wings, making her other-self gasp, realizing what she was planning to do and Yugi gasped in surprise as the girl shot into the air before flying towards Bakura's face-down and surprise turned to alarmed-shock.

"Pink what are you doing?" Yugi yelled. "Making sure no one else gets hurt!" She answered in an enraged scream as she plummeted towards the card and not a second later, the monster revealed itself to be a rather ugly brown bug with horns on its head, matching blades for hands and was strangely eyeless*.

 **Man-Eater Bug. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: INSECT/EFFECT. Lv: 2. ATK/DEF: 450/600**

"Pink no!" Tristan shouted after her as she began circling the bug, "You're the strongest monster out of all us with nearly three thousand points, let one of us do it!"

"NO!" She screamed, "I'm done with everyone else getting hurt when I can do something to help!" She then conjured a sphere of light and chucked it at the bug, making it screech as it burned its face on impact, "Oi! Creepy!" Getting its attention, she threw everyone off by taking a deep breath and blowing a raspberry at it, making both all the boys and Tea sweat-drop, Yami and Bakura included, whilst Other-Stephanie burst out laughing.

However, this successfully made Man-Eater Bug mad as it screeched at the hybrid and flew at her, but she dodged and latched herself onto its back and it began swinging itself around wildly trying to throw her off as she began generating her monster's light energy, making Man-Eater Bug's skin burn a bit from the close contact. Stephanie folded one of her wings over its face so it couldn't try to attack one of the others, leaving it stranded on Bakura's field.

"Feisty for a such a little thing, isn't she?" Bakura asked in amusement. "You have no idea," Other-Stephanie replied with a smirk.

"Yami!" Stephanie called out, "Hurry up and use that card, I don't care what happens to me, please, just save everyone else!"

"Yami!" Yugi protested, "Don't!"

"Pink- _Hime_..." Yami whispered conflicted. "Please!" Stephanie pleaded as she held onto the insect tighter in fear of it breaking free.

"I activate my trap card, sacrificing my guardian angel!" Yami declared reluctantly despite Yugi's protest, flipping his trap over and a winged bugle-horn appeared, "The Horn of Heaven, its celestial tune will obliterate your Man-Eater Bug once and for all!"

The horn flew towards Stephanie, who saw it coming and launched Man-Eater Bug away so she could catch. With a spin, she began to play the celestial horn with a small smile as it created a heavenly call, which caused both her and Man-Eater Bug to glow, much to the others' surprise.

"PINK!" The others cried in worry. "What's happening to her?" Tea asked in horror as both began to fade. "They're disappearing..." Tristan said with wide eyes, stunned that she had sacrificed herself for them, a group of total strangers that she had only known for a day and a half.

"Pink..." Yugi whispered as tears flooded his eyes from the implication of what was happening. When she finished, Stephanie gave them a unafraid, peaceful smile before disappearing, but unlike Tristan, didn't become a red light, rather, she became a bright pink star-shape of light that twinkled as it floated over to Yami's discard pile before twinkling out of existence.

"Man am I glad none of the Gems saw that..." Other-Stephanie muttered with a wince at the mere idea, especially Pearl.

Yugi unable to support himself in a sitting up position from the shock, nearly fell forward and was barely holding himself up with his hands, sceptre on the ground and tears falling freely down his face from both shock and sorrow by what Stephanie had done. "She's...she's gone..." Yugi said mostly to himself, fists clenching in anger, "Just like that...she's gone...and I couldn't...d-d-do anything...to help her..."

"Don't worry," Bakura told him in false-comfort with a cruel smirk on his face, "Soon you will be able to spend all eternity with her in the Shadow Realm once you lose."

Yugi, surprising his friends and even Yami and Bakura, glared up at him with so much venom that, if looks could kill, Bakura would've been twelve feet under as the normally peaceful boy shouted viciously, "SHUT UP!"

A wave of dark magic shot out from him in consequence to his outburst, nearly knocking all three spirits back and knocking both Joey and Tristan on their butts, while Tea was shielded by a barrier of magic, being a spellcaster herself.

Bakura glared down at the smaller tri-haired male, caught off guard by the magical outburst, "Powerful...little tyke..."

"Pink...she sacrificed herself for us..." Tea whispered in sorrow, "Complete strangers..." A lone tear rolled off her cheek and onto her card, making it and her whole body glow, making everyone turn to stare at her, perplexed, until Yugi realized what was going on.

"She's...she's the Magician of Faith..." He said in realization, "Her tears...they must've awakened her powers."

"That's right, the Magician of Faith's special power allows me to bring one magic card back to my hand from the graveyard," Yami grinned as he held up his empty hand as his graveyard glowed before his chosen magic card appeared in his empty hand, he then turned to the card to reveal it to Bakura, "And the card I choose is Monster Reborn, which I play now, reviving Guardian Angel Joan!"

The pink twinkling star reappeared and slowly descended to the field before reforming into Stephanie, who had her wings spread as she touched the ground, looking very much like an angel descending from heaven in Yugi's eyes. Then again, it could've been the relief to see her alive and safe, but he didn't care.

"PINK!" They all cried in relief as she opened her eyes. "Huh, I'm back?" She asked in surprise as she looked around, only to yelp when Yugi pulled her into what would've been a bone-crushing hug if she didn't have her Gem-durability, but what really took her off guard was the fact he was shaking with tears as he held her.

"Thank whatever Gods are up there..." Yugi said in relief before looking at her teary-upset eyes, "Don't you EVER do that again!"

Stephanie stared in shock, before saying simply, "I can't promise you that..." Much to his and everyone else's surprise, "I'll gladly do that again, if it means keeping all of you guys safe, hell, I'll gladly do a thousand times with a smile every time, cause I'll know your safe." She looked down with a blush at the end of her mini-speech and Yugi was a bit flushed in the face as well, much to his friends amusements as Other-Stephanie and Yami shared an amused glance.

Bakura coughed awkwardly getting their attention back on their situation and it was clear he didn't approve of Yami's choice to bring Stephanie back, which showed both on his face and in his voice as he said, "You waste your time and your turns rescuing these foolish mortals," He then curled his lip further as his eyes lingered on Stephanie, or, more accurately, her gemstone, making Yugi glare back as he pulled Stephanie closer, "Especially her, she isn't even fully human."

Now this made both Stephanies recoil, as if slapped, but the others all looked confused, not that Yami showed it. "Not fully...?" Tea asked confused. "What do ya mean, not fully human?" Joey asked looking at Bakura as if he grew a second head, "Are ya blind, of course Pink's perfectly human!"**

Yugi look at the girl questioningly, sure that Bakura had no reason to lie about that part, "Pink...?" She avoided his eyes, unable to lie to his face.

"My friends are never a waste of time," Yami cut in his voice like steel as he reached with his free hand to grasp one of Other-Stephanie's, much to her surprise as she looked to see a warm, loving expression in his blood-red eyes, "Especially not my _Hime_ ," She blushed shyly, before he looked down at Stephanie, who shyly met his eyes, "Both of them," She blushed as well before Yami glared at Bakura, "Now make your move."

"Move I shall, this move shall end the match and turn your precious duo against one another," Bakura stated his smirk turning even crueler as he summoned a new monster, "First I play the Lady of Faith."

This new monster was also a spellcaster, like Yugi and Tea, but wore the long bluish-white robes of a priestess or nun with a green shawl and a pink and purple-striped turban-like hat on her head with a hollowed-star design in the center and a green jewel sewn in the middle of the star. She had long deep blue hair, fair skin and soft brown eyes, and she had her hands held in prayer.

 **Lady of Faith. Attribute: LIGHT. Tribe: SPELLCASTER. Lv: 3. ATK/DEF: 1100/800**

"And next," Bakura continued revealing his next card, "The Change of Heart magic card."

"And its a very powerful card indeed," Bakura said with a wicked smile, "This card will turn you against your friends little Pink."

The others all gasped in shock and Yugi held Stephanie even tighter, if possible, as Tea cried, "Oh no!"

"Never!" Stephanie refused clinging to Yugi's robe from fright at the idea. "You won't have a choice in the matter, little girl," Bakura stated evilly. "You'll have to go through me first!" Yugi stated boldly.

"It honestly won't matter to me which one of you is taken under my control," Bakura stated carelessly, smirk still in place as he leered at them, "You will still be forced to fight one another as you two are the only ones with over two thousand attack points."

"But Yugi will be the one who..." Joey started to protest before it clicked for everyone. "You want them to fight!" Tristan roared in anger, "You want Pink to send Yugi to the Graveyard regardless if its done with her under your control or Yugi attacking her under it!" Both Stephanie and Yugi gasped in horror.

"Thief!" Both spirits of the puzzle and earrings roared in anger, "Leave them out of this!"

"I think not!" Bakura retorted in the same volume with wide crazed eyes, "I've come so close to my goal, I literally _can't_ stop now!" He then played the magic card, creating a bright light, which had the other two spirits, Joey, Tristan and Tea shielding their eyes with their arms, whilst Yugi held Stephanie tight and turned his back to the light to shield himself and her, and Stephanie wrapped her wings around them for added protection.

When the light died down, Yugi and Stephanie were the first to recover as Yugi turned and Stephanie lowered her wings to see the real Bakura now the half-angel, half-demon creature of the Change of Heart spell card. Both of them gasped, "Bakura!"

"Its the real you!" Yugi said making Bakura nod and tense, which made the other two tense, holding tight to each other.

But, to everyone's shocks, Bakura ran at the Lady of Faith, who gasped in surprise, and took her over, instead of Yugi or Stephanie.

"We have to act quickly!" He told them, "I've taken control of one of his monsters instead of one of you; one of you must attack me, as you both have the highest attack points, and end this duel!"

"But!" Stephanie protested, "If we do that, then you'll be sent to the Graveyard."

"I don't care!" Bakura replied without hesitance, "Its much better than being controlled by an evil spirit, believe me!" Tears prickled his eyes as he pleaded desperately, "Please; do it!"

"You disobedient little fool!" Yami Bakura yelled at him enraged, but then Yami's puzzle glowed and the Eye of Horus appeared on his forehead as he and Other-Stephanie glared at their fellow spirit.

"I have a better idea," Yami stated as the glow intensified, making Yami Bakura yell as it focused on him, "If the Ring can take souls out of bodies, then surely the Puzzle can put them right back."

"No!" Yami Bakura cried as a similar eye appeared on his own forehead as his ring glowed, trying to protect himself. But Other-Stephanie intervened as her earrings glowed as well, her cheek marks and Eye of Horus appearing as well, as she frowned at him, "Oh no you don't, if there's one thing I learned about my earrings is that they can interfere with other Items' powers as well as protect, you have no where to run."

Sure enough, Yami Bakura and the real Bakura swapped places, leaving the spirit of the ring trapped in the Lady of Faith's body, much to his horrified-shock as he screamed, "THIS CAN'T BE!"

"Oh but it can," Other-Stephanie stated, "And it is the end of you."

"Yugi, Pink," Yami said, "Combine your power and end this duel; send him to the graveyard, now!"

The two shortest present on the field nodded before looking at each other and couldn't help smiling as Yugi placed his sceptre between them. Tucking her wings, Stephanie carefully used her opposite hand and purposely placed it on the opposite side of how Yugi was holding the sceptre. Together, they lifted the sceptre up as they channeled their respective magic into it.

Everyone watched transfixed as darkness and light, ran up the sceptre's hand in delicate arches, gathering in the orb, forming a sphere of the combined energy. Even Yami Bakura, despite his situation, was enchanted by the strange new attack as it turned a very light purple.

"Twilight Magical Arc!" Yugi and Stephanie said together as the sphere launched itself from the top of the sceptre and spun around the two before shooting across the field as arches of magic leapt off of it. Yami Bakura screamed as the attack exploded on impact with him, enveloping him in a blinding light purple light, disintegrating him.

When Yami Bakura opened his eyes, it was only after a painful reconstruction in the Graveyard, much to his irritation.

"Damn those meddlesome pests and damn that a-cursed half-breed too!" Yami Bakura cursed angrily, "The Millennium Puzzle and Earrings were almost mine!" The Reaper of Cards suddenly appeared behind him, sending a chill up his spine before he turned around. His screams echoed through the graveyard.

Meanwhile, both Amethyst and Ruby were falling over in relief when the fog finally lifted to reveal Stephanie was perfectly fine, she and the other teens were awake and in one perfect piece, thought strangely, and much to Amethyst's amusement, Stephanie and Yugi were still holding each other, smiling at their victory. Ruby was mildly concerned, mostly because she didn't know Yugi personally and didn't have Sapphire's future vision to assure herself that he would never hurt her on purpose. Amethyst, however, was highly amused, having never seen Stephanie so close to a boy before, not even with Lars, which was saying something how she'd always bug him and follow him around, trying to get his attention however she could.

"Liliya? Liliya!" Joey panicked upon seeing Lapis still, well, Lapis, blue skin and all and panicked, "Guys, her skin is blue! Why is her skin blue?" Clearly all the bad reasons were running through his head as he lifted her up, but shivered when his arm brushed against something smooth, cold and hard on her back and when he looked, he gasped in confused-shock upon seeing her gemstone, "What the-?"

"Guys, I think there's something really wrong with Miss Oshiro," Bakura said in worry as he did the same with Peridot, looking at her gemstone with concern, "I think she's sick." A person should be dead with a stone in their forehead like that.

"Itzel!" Tristan panicked as he rushed to the fallen blacksmith, "Guys, what does a bluish-gray color mean?" He was greatly concerned by the concaved rainbow-colored gemstone in her chest.

"What about an orangey-hue?" Tea asked as she knelt by Jasper, quickly joined by Yugi, who was just as confused and concerned as his friends as Stephanie looked down in defeat, "How does someone's skin turn orange?" They both gazed at the diamond-shaped orange gemstone in the place of the warrior's nose.

"There's nothing wrong with them, any of them," Stephanie finally told them crossing her arms. "Nothing wrong?" Joey asked sounding close to hysterics, "They're skin is another color 'n' come creep came along 'n' changed their clothes 'n' put rocks in their skin, how are they okay?" She cringed at his near yelling volume and she wasn't the only one.

"Ugh...can you please not shout?" Peridot asked groaning in pain as she started to come to, holding her head, fingers grazing near the edges of her gemstone, "I feel like I over absorbed***." Bakura looked at her in concern.

"You and me both," Jasper rasped pinching the area between her eyes above her gemstone as she pushed herself up. "Ooh..." Bismuth groaned miserably, "Did someone catch the number of the upper-crust that pulled a cheap shot on me?" She sat up, rubbing her chest in pain.

"If you find her," Lapis said sitting up properly in Joey's arms, much to his relief as she held the small of her back, "I get the first shot at her," Shaking her head, she turned to Stephanie asking, "What happened?"

"That's what we should be asking," Tea commented. "That's how they're supposed to look normally," Stephanie explained with a sigh as the Gems finally started to notice they weren't in disguise anymore, "How they looked before was fake."

"Fake!" Tea, Joey, Bakura and Yugi shouted in surprise making the four cringe. "I knew it!" Tristan yelled making them wince further. "Please stop yelling!" Peridot snapped before whimpering, "My gem hurts..."

"Your..." Tea started in disbelief, "My _head_ hurts!"

"So what the evil version of Bakura said...wasn't a lie," Yugi said in realization as he looked at Stephanie, who flinched a little at the unreadable look on his face as she nodded. "You mean...that wasn't a dream?" Tristan said as he and Tea paled, "That was all real?" Yugi, Stephanie and Bakura all nodded.

"None of you...are human?" Joey asked mostly Lapis, stunned and she nodded unable to look him in the eyes. Bismuth was unable to look at Tristan properly as he looked at her, unable to deny the sting of fear of his reaction to her species being present in her chest.

"Pink..." Yugi said unsure if he wanted to ask the question. In response, Stephanie shook her head before reaching back and untying the loose bow of her sash as she said, "I'm human..." She let go, letting the sash flutter to the ground, revealing her gemstone, which glistened with its bright pink hue in the moonlight, "Just not fully human."

The four teens stared in absolute shock, they're entire world being flipped on its head at that moment.

* * *

 **And how's that for a cliffhanger!**

 **I gotta admit, it was a challenge deciding how this duel was going to play out and what monster to use for Stephanie. One of her Crystal Beasts just didn't feel right and I don't want to reveal any new crystal cards too soon. Now she has to come clean, wonder how that's going to go? Let me know what you guys think.**

 **Also let me know what you think of Guardian Angel Joan and the back story of how Stephanie got the card. Personally, I can see Sour Cream and Steven having something of a brotherly relationship what with Vidalia and Greg's close friendship (well, it seemed close to me), so I can kinda see him giving Steven something along the lines of a card like Joan for good luck.**

 **Now, I just want to clear up my little * notes there on the last or the one before with the ghoul, ' _waradiy alsaghir'_ , is Arabic for 'my little rose', basically Atem's nickname for Stephanie's Ancient Egyptian ****equivalent.**

 **Now for _this_** **chapter's notes:**

 ***: I mean, take a really good look at Man-Eater Bug, tell me that thing ain't ugly as sin as far as insect monsters go. Sure its ability is useful, but still!**

 ****: Most ironic sentence I've ever heard as far as Steven Universe fandom goes and I'm the one who came up with it and I didn't realize it at first! Lol!**

 *****: I owe SliceofOtaku for this one, or maybe it was the Roundtable's Crystal Clear, I honestly forget who came up with this first, but either way, this is based off the theory that, since a Gem's physical form is made of light, they're dependent on light sources like suns, stars and even moons, so depriving one of it would cause harm like torture from Stevonnie getting locked in that tower in Together Alone; so, by that logic, it would make sense that over absorbing light (I think that's how it would be put) would cause something similar to being drunk and having a hangover when the effects of the extra light wore off.**

 **Well, what do you guys think, this is offically the longest chapter I've written.**

 **Leave me your opinions in your reviews, but remember, keep it PG and no flamming!**

 **Till next time everyone!**


	12. Chapter 12

**In fear of sounding like a broken record: I do not own Steven Universe or any of its original characters nor do I own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of its original characters, I can say, however, that I do own Stephanie, her yami and all OCs I chose to make, including original Crystal Beasts, i.e. Bismuth Beaver, and other original cards. If I _did_ own Steven Universe, trust me, things would've been a lot different and if I own Yu-Gi-Oh there would've been a way for Atem to stay and have all his memories.**

 **So last time, we met Yami Bakura and finally gave Yami his name, and now the teens are going to find out about Gem kind and Stephanie's story as a consequence.**

 **Now for the review replies:**

 **foxchick1: Was honestly afraid I made the chapter too long, but glad to know you liked it all the same.**

 **GemmaCartney: Lol, now there's a reaction I never got before, glad to know I can bring the house down where some people are concerned and that I can meet expectations, hope you love this chapter too!**

 **Now, on to our next chapter!**

* * *

Two groups sat opposite of each other across their camp's fire. One, a group of five perfectly normal human teenagers; Japanese students, the other, four animated, senitient space rocks that took a human like form, each a different color, subspecies of gem and rank. Sitting between them, the sole existing hybrid of the two, the first and only to exist.

Stephanie Lily Quartz-Universe stared at the dancing flames, idly reminded of Ruby and fueling her homesickness further. It made her wonder briefly if this was anything like how Lapis felt during her imprisonment within that mirror, but quickly dismissed the notion. Somehow, she got the feeling this vastly differed. She also couldn't shake the uneasy-anxiety she was feeling.

She was pulled out of her ravine of thoughts when Joey broke the metaphorical ice, "So...none of ya are human, huh?"

"No duh, Joey," Tea scolded lightly eyes trained of the four gems across from them. "Well, what else was I supposed to say?" Joey asked. "How about an easy one," Tristan said eyes on Bismuth, who avoided looking at him, "If none of you are human than what are you?"

If any of the four took any offence or found the bluntness rude, none made any comment or indication. Rather, it was Lapis who answered, "We're Gems."

"We heard the first time," Tea said, "What are Gems, exactly? Other than obviously being from space and sentient rocks from said void." She was still wrapping her head around that part.

"To put it simply, we are our gemstones," Peridot stated trying to re-frame from going into an overly long explanation as Stephanie had told her before that, when it came to other humans a very short and simplified explanation worked best, "What you're seeing is basically light compressed into a physical form we chose to take, we can shape-shift to look like anything else we want, even other gems, but we can't change our gemstones; its just how it works."

"But you looked...so..." Bakura said pausing to chose his words carefully, "Human...before..."

"That would be because of an invention Peridot created," Jasper stated lifting her hand to indicate her bracelet. "The bracelets?" Tea asked confused. "They're what turns us as human as we can physically get," Peridot explained holding up her own, "We look perfectly human, but we still don't _need_ to eat or sleep, it just makes the disguise last longer." The five teens were stunned by the seemingly impossible creation.

"What about you Pink?" Yugi finally spoke up, looking at said hybrid, "If we can really call you that..." The betrayed tone of his voice made her flinch.

"Its...not my name...my last name isn't even Diamonde nor is my middle name Roza," Stephanie replied with a sigh, "A friend made it up so they could pass me off as a sickly rich kid so Jasper, Peri, Bismuth and Lapis could come with me," She instinctively grasped her locket, "My name is Stephanie; Stephanie Lily Quartz-Universe."

"So...you're not some CEO's daughter," Joey asked for clarification, to which she shook her head. "My dad's human, a retired musician to be exact and technically, he is rich, since his last album did make a big hit," Stephanie replied, "My mom...my mom was a Gem, she had to give up her gemstone and physical form, because we couldn't exist at the same time."

All five humans flinched at this. They might have had a hard time wrapping their heads around the whole alien-beings thing, but they did understand the basics of the biology that was explained to them. Gems were immortal so long as nothing happened to the gemstone, you could electrocute them and send to the bottom of the sea or even impale them several times at once, so long as the gemstone remained perfectly intact, the Gem could simply retreat into said stone and regenerate a new body with ease. To give up the form was basically dying. So, she hadn't been lying on that front.

It raised questions, how her mother could even have her if her body was made entirely out of light?

"So...your mom was _a_ Rose Quartz?" Joey asked earning a nod, "As in, there are other Rose Quartz out there?"

"Its basically how Gem reproduction works," Stephanie shrugged, "They go planet to planet creating colonies to create more Gems, who basically emerge from the earth as they are, they don't...grow, like people do and they're all basically clones of the same Gem, outside the cut of the gemstone itself, its placement on the form and some minor details in said form."

"So, they're are other Lapis Lazulis," Lapis said in clarification, "We're used to terraform colonies to best suit Gem-needs." Joey looked at her, unsure what to say.

"Other Bismuth," Bismuth added, "All meant to build towers, spires, coliseums; all for the elites' and the Diamonds' pleasure." Tristan looked at his feet.

"Peridots are made to be technicians and glorified pilots," Peridot added, "Make sure ships are sailing smoothly from one colony to the next, over looking the kindergardens, making sure each Gem comes out right."

"And other Jaspers," Jasper finished, "All meant to serve with other quartz soldiers for whatever task we're given."

"At least...that's how things went for eons," Lapis said with a small smile directed at Stephanie. "Went?" Tea asked curiously.

"When Earth became a colony, a new cut of Gem was created, Rose Quartz," Jasper explained making Stephanie look at her ballet shoes, "For a while, they were just like any other quartz soldier; hard-working, fearless, _loyal_ , until one began to explore the wildlife of the planet and how things that wouldn't otherwise happen...happened...and she started the first ever Gem War...and the last one."

"Your mom wagged a war against her own kind?" Joey asked in shock. "Yeah, she's...the leader of the Crystal Gems," Stephanie answered, "Most kids have soccer moms or their moms are doctors or a police officer, mine was over five thousand years old and was a wanted war criminal and shatterer."

"Shatterer?" Tea asked. "Basically the only way a Gem can die is if the gemstone is broken into multiple shards," Bismuth explained though she and the other four looked very uncomfortable, "If the gemstone's cracked its put in a bubble for stasis until it can be healed, to spare the Gem pain, to a point, but if its shattered, there's nothing any one can do."

"Your mom...shattered a Gem?" Yugi asked stunned with a small voice. "It was war, in her defense but yeah," Stephanie said hanging her head, "I was told my whole life she this amazing being full of nothing but love for all life and wanted nothing but to help others and protect all life, but just literally a couple of weeks ago, I learn she shattered a Diamond!" Their eyes widened, remembering the bit how Diamonds were basically the Queens of Gemkind, Stephanie didn't notice as she clutched her head with tears, "Now, I'm stuck cleaning her mess with the Corrupted Gems and I got Homeworld Gems thinking I'm her, now this!"

For a moment, all was silent, until Yugi finally said, "I'm sorry..."

Stephanie looked at him with teary, regretful eyes.

For a moment, it was silent again, when this time, Bakura asked out of genuine curiosity, "So...what type of abilities do Gems possess outside of basic shape-shifting?"

"Well, generally, it differs Gem-to-Gem," Peridot explained, "Take me for example, Peridots aren't supposed to have any powers at all, but after coming here, I discovered I have some sort of metal power, thought whether or not other Peridots have it as well or not, I don't know for sure." They nodded in acceptance to the answer, aweing as Peridot made Stephanie's phone float out of her pocket to the green Gem's hand.

"All Bismuth can do a sort of shape-shift when we work," Bismuth said holding up a hand and changed it into a hammer, then a mace and then a crescent blade of sort, much to the teens' awed-shock, "Ever since I defected to the Crystal Gems, I learned I'm lava-proof and I can make weapons for the other Gems." Tristan had stars in his eyes, along with some hearts.

"All quartz soldiers can summon their weapons," Jasper stated summoning her helmet to demonstrate, then made it disappear just as easily, "Jaspers have our helmets, Citrines have their boa staffs and Amethysts have their whips, and of course, Rose Quartzes have their shields."

"Can you summon your mother's shield?" Tea asked Stephanie curiously, in response, Stephanie held out her arm and in a soft pink flash, her mother's shield materialized on her arm, much to the teens' awe, "Wow!"

"That's kinda cool!" Tristan agreed. "Shame about the color, though," Joey added jokingly, making Stephanie crack a little smile.

"Did you inherit anything else from her?" Yugi asked genuinely curious, making her shrug. "You mean besides the curls?" Stephanie tried to joke, which raised a few chuckles, before she shrugged again, "I know I inherited her healing abilities, my saliva heals everything short of death itself."

"No offence, but gross," Joey admitted as Tea shivered in disgust at the idea of basically having to be touched by someone's saliva to be healed of something like a cut, "Cool, granted, but still gross." Stephanie, again, just shrugged.

Deciding to keep her resurrection tears and mind-powers to herself for now, mostly unsure how much of a shock like that they could take, she's surprised she was handling it so well herself, she continued, "I inherited her ability to float, I can basically control my accession into the air and how quickly I fall, I can create bubbles, even around myself and make it spiky, kinda like a mace, I know I'm pretty strong and physically durable, I think its cause my mom was a quartz soldier."

They were all nodding along in acceptance to her listing of her powers, the boys going a little starry-eyed as they pictured her spiked-bubble and Tea was trying to picture Stephanie floating trying to keep herself in the air. Yugi had his eyes closed so it was hard for Stephanie to read his reaction to all this properly.

"Plus, I'm told I can move pretty fast for a human my size," Stephanie commented with a smirk aimed at Peridot, who's face turned a noticeably dark shade of green in her form of a natural blush, "And I can make my shield however big I want it to be."

"What about you Lapis?" Joey asked and she became uncomfortable, "You said Lazulis can terraform, right?" Tristan then became uncomfortable, remembering Lapis' wings.

"I..." Lapis said but never got to finish when a sudden, loud, female scream ripped through the air like a hot knife through soft butter, making everyone quite literally jump to their feet.

"What on Earth was that?" Peridot asked with wide eyes. "Someone just screamed," Yugi said with concern and Stephanie's eyes widened upon recognizing the voice. "Its Mai!" The hybrid exclaimed, "She's in trouble!" She instantly began running in the direction the scream had come from.

"Pin-!" Tea started but remembered and quickly corrected herself, "Stephanie, wait for us!"

"What do we have to worry about?" Tristan asked as they all quickly ran after her, Jasper and Yugi in the lead, "She has a literal shield!"

"Yeah, but she has one, well, two things that a lot of Gems don't that will get her seriously hurt or captured," Peridot stated seriously.

This instantly got Yugi's attention as he asked worriedly, "What's that?"

"Her compassion," Lapis answered instantly. "Her hesitance to attack," Jasper added. "Well, I was going to say self-fear, but hey, those work too," Peridot said more to herself than anyone else, but Bakura, who was next to her, heard her and glanced at her in mild-confusion. _'Self-fear?'_ Bakura wondered, _'Most of her powers helps people, what can possibly make her afraid of herself?'_ But he didn't dare ask aloud, feeling it wasn't his place.

Suddenly, another cry was heard, but it wasn't Mai, this time, it was Stephanie who had cried out, much to everyone's alarm, Yugi and Jasper both picked up their speed, followed closely by the other three Gems, who all cried out, "Stephanie!"

When they reached a clearing, the open moonlight revealed an active duel arena, where Mai was standing in the blue platform, her opponent in the red one. But something that immediately got their attention was the thick black shroud on the field, the shadows so dark even the bright, unfiltered light of the moon didn't penetrate it and make anything inside visible. They all jump when something suddenly lashed out from within the shroud, destroying Mai's trio of harpies.

"No way," Joey breathed in shock, which was mirrored by everyone else. "She...she lost..." Lapis added unable to shake off how frightened Mai looked, how different she was from the confident, if annoying blonde she had just seen not an hour or so before giving them all a hard time.

"Your harpies have been eliminated, just as you have been," Mai's opponent stated with a wicked grin, "Now hand over all of your Star Chips!" Mai begrudgingly placed down all eight of her Star Chips before her platform lowered to the ground and her opponent, who was already on the ground, walked around over to her.

He was a giant of a man, close to Bismuth's size, but was still drawfed by the likes of Jasper. He was dressed in a large, dark colored trench coat that blended into the heavy shadows of the night, and a matching bandanna-like cap on his head. On both wrists he wore large Dueling Gloves, capable of holding at least twenty Star Chips each, one of which was full.

"Mai, what happened?" Joey asked as they hurried over, "What did this guy do tah ya?" He was having a hard time wrapping around his head around the fact that Mai had lost. Against Stephanie he could digest, but a creep like this was harder.

"Take a look at what I did to her," Her opponent crowed wrapping Mai's wrist, the one with her Dueling Glove and held it up for them to see it was completely empty of Star Chips, "She doesn't have any Star Chips left; she's been eliminated from the tournament."

"You're out Mai?" Yugi asked at Mai' crestfallen, but still shaken expression. "I am," Mai answered, "I don't know how it happened...the way Panik duels...how far he's willing to go...I just lost it." And apparently was still in so much shock, she didn't seem to register the four's different appearances or gemstones as the newly named Panik shoved to the group, Tea catching her before she could trip and fall.

"You bastard!" Joey snapped lunging at Panik only to be grabbed and held back by Tristan and Bakura, "Lemme at 'im! Lemme at 'im! Lemme at 'im! Oi! Don't hold me back, he can't touch a girl like that 'n' get away with it!" Panik just chuckled at him, amused.

"Wheeler, stop it," Mai told him, "Panik is one of the island's eliminators, they purposely beat duelists to weed out the weakest so the strongest competitors get to the finals," She rubbed her arm, "If he can beat me, he can crush you."

"We'll see about that," Joey said before remembering something and looked around, "Wait, where's Stephanie?" The rest of the group panicked when they looked around but didn't spy the pink-clad girl. Mai was understandably confused, "Who?"

"Where is she?" Peridot demanded trying to lunge at Panik herself when he didn't answer, but this time Bakura held her, "Answer me; what did you do to her?"

"You mean her?" Panik asked pointing. They looked over and gasped; hanging from a high branch in a net was Stephanie, who struggled in a vain attempt to get free.

"Put her down!" Lapis snapped. "Okay," Panik shrugged as he took out a little remote and pressed a button, Stephanie and another voice screamed as her net and a second one started to plummet towards the group. They looked at the other net and were stunned to see it was Leon.

"Stop!" Bismuth yelled in alarm and Panik pressed the button again making the nets stop, he pressed another and a pulley system reversed, pulling the two's nets back up. "Leon!" Lapis said in worry. "Fairy Godmother, help!" Leon cried out as he and Stephanie struggled.

"Let them go!" Yugi shouted. "Why should I?" Panik said carelessly, "The brat already escaped elimination once, he's not getting away again, as for her," He smirked sinisterly, "Pegasus has set a large bounty for the eliminator who manages to beat her, and you Muto."

Yugi tensed at this, but was surprised when Jasper stepped forward, "You've done enough dueling for one day, Pipsqueak," She stared Panik down without any trace of fear, "Let me take him; I know his type, he plays off the fear of others to make them slip up," She then smiled darkly, "But it takes much more than some shadow tricks to scare a quartz." Yugi looked unsure, before nodding and taking a step back, this was Jasper's duel now.

"Oh I'm perfectly aware of you ladies," Panik chuckled, "I wonder how much Pegasus will throw in for your shards." Lapis, Bismuth and Peridot tensed, but Jasper didn't react at all emotionally.

Soon, Jasper was standing on the blue platform and Panik resumed his place on the red one, decks shuffled and placed.

"I hope you'll be able to find another job after this, though personally I really don't care," Jasper remarked callously as she continued to stare down Panik, "Because you'll lose more than just Star Chips after dueling me."

"Who said I was an Eliminator simply for the money, Jasper, was it?" Panik asked at her nod he continued, "I've made enough to retire twice over long ago, but I won't quit, because there is no better thrill then breaking weaklings like you lot, so get ready, I'm about to put you in a world of hurt."

Jasper's eyes dropped to half-mast, expression dry with skeptical-ism, "Is that supposed to scare me?" Panik frowned, but only for a brief moment, at her lack of worry or fright, "I've met Pearls with better threats," Bismuth, Peridot and Lapis spluttered with laughter at the Gem-related burn, much to the teens' confusion as Stephanie smirked, "I don't scare easily and believe me, its going to take more than a pathetic insect like you to frighten _me_." Mai stared up at the woman in awed-surprise, stunned by how easily she was back-talking Panik.

"Well, you've never met someone like _me_ before," Panik rebuffed easily as their life points were set, "When I'm in a match there's _always_ more then just simple strategy."

 **Panik LPs: 2000**

 **Jasper LPs: 2000**

"What do you suppose that means?" Tristan curiously asked. "I bet he has tricks up his sleeve like that Weasel did," Bismuth frowned at the memory of Weevil, making the others frown a little as well.

"Panik's ruthless," Mai said, "He had me completely terrified."

"She's right, and she wasn't the first nor will she be the last," Panik said chuckling darkly, "We Eliminators have built our careers on stalking weak duelists like her," The jib at Mai earned frowns from everyone, even Leon and Lapis, "Strong-arm them into dueling us, when you're as good at it as I am, you learn to appreciate the thrill of the hunt just as much as the duel itself; now I'm going to take you down, just like I did Mai." He started laughing wickedly.

"I see how it is with you Panik; you sneak up on unsuspecting pebbles and force them to duel you rather than challenge them face-to-face like a real warrior," Jasper called him out with narrowed amber eyes, which blazed with controlled ire, "Real duelists fight with honor and respect, both of which you clearly lack in spades, not with the under handed tricks of a poacher," Panik growled at her, "And I'll prove it; I may not have Star Chips to wager, but I do have something just as valuable," She held up a card and turned it to show it to Panik, "My strongest card; my Amazoness Queen, for all of the Star Chips you stole."

Stephanie gasped in horror, "Jasper, no!" The others were stunned as well.

00000000000000

Amethyst and Ruby were stunned and alarmed as well, despite their past with the quartz.

Amethyst was especially alarmed as she cried out, "Big sis!"

00000000000000

"Big gamble for someone who's never dueled before, but very well, if you win, you get the Star Chips," Panik replied, "But be warned Jasper, you will realize that a duel with me is _far_ much more than a simple game; you're putting more on the line then you think."

As he said this, he pressed a button on the side of his platform, causing slots to open at the bottom of the sides of Jasper's and a pair of shackles shot out, latching onto her ankles, making her simply arch a brow as she glanced down, "Hmm?" Then, without warning, two flamethrowers emerged from either side of the quartz soldier and released streams of fire near her.

Then teens were horrified, Stephanie especially, having no clue if Jaspers were fire-proof, "Jasper!" Lapis covered her mouth with wide, startled eyes as Peridot and Bismuth tensed.

Mai only watched the flames in despair as she whispered, "Panik used those on me too..."

"And you didn't think to warn us?" Peridot asked in disbelief. "Panik!" Stephanie shouted from her net, Leon watching on in sheer terror, "Turn those off! Are you a duelist or a thug?" What made her feel worse was that she couldn't reach Leon to comfort him and she was too unsure to use her shield or even her bubble to break free of her net.

"This wasn't in the job description," Tristan stated, "We need to get Jasper down from there." He went to do so when Bismuth stopped him and he looked to see her shake her head.

Soon, the flamethrowers began to deactivate as Panik taunted, "What's wrong Jasper? The big, bad Gem can't stand the heat?" He smirked, "Has my little display made you quiver in your boots?" He and the others gasped, stunned, when the flames finally disappeared, revealing Jasper hadn't moved out of her position from before, she hadn't even flinched at how close the flames were, she just stood there, arms crossed.

"Are you done?" Jasper asked sounding a bit bored at his attempt to scare her, "I told you before, I don't scare easy," It was hard to be scared when you've spent over five millennia facing all sorts of creatures on varying planets, some of which made most of the monsters she's seen look like the actual Pebble Gems, harmless, "And these cheap fire tricks just don't cut it."

"The last punk that spoke to me like that I snapped them in half," Panik warned, "Let's duel!" They drew their first five cards.

"Fight time," Lapis muttered hands clenched and imagine her surprise when a hand was placed over one of hers and looked to see Joey linking his hand with her and it made her look at him in surprise, having thought these little gestures of comfort would be stopped now that he knew just what she was. Joey offered her a smile in response, however small, it made her feel really warm as her face turned a little purple, which made him chuckle inwardly.

"Since you weren't afraid of my light show, how about we turn down the lights?" Panik said making the other three Gems tense at the idea as he played a card, "My Castle of Dark Illusions will turn this duel into your worst nightmare."

The monster he summoned was defiantly unusual in Jasper's opinion. So far, all the monsters had been based off some sort of creature or look rather human, with the only exception being Joey's Time Wizard. However, unlike the Time Wizard, Panik's monster was all object, well, building, in this case. It was a was a castle that looked to be made from sort of wore gold-looking material or sandstone, having the classic cone-roofed towers and was perched atop a floating piece of land of sorts, a large circular disk attached to the front of the castle had some sort of Chinese or Japanese kanji character. It honestly reminded her and the four three Gems of Bakura's Millennium Ring.

 **Castle of Dark Illusions. Attribute: DARK. Tribe: FIEND/EFFECT. Lv: 4. ATK/DEF: 920/1930**

Lapis arched a brow, "What the-?"

"A building?" Bismuth asked skeptically, "How is a building a monster?"

"I think it was based off the general haunted castle trope," Tea shrugged turning to Yugi, who also shrugged, but her answer only confused the Gems further, not one of knowing what a castle was or what the word 'haunted' even meant. "I'll explain it later if you'd like," Bakura offered making Peridot smile a little and nod shyly, earning an arched brow from Lapis, who chose not to comment as they focused back on the duel.

"Hey, why is its power climbing?" Tristan asked and sure enough, as the castle began to cast a thick veil of darkness over Panik's field like a mist, its stats began to increase.

 **Castle of Dark Illusions. ATK/DEF: 1196/2509**

"Not only does it shroud my entire field in shadow," Panik explained as Jasper console's display of Panik's field went black as well, "It gains a field power bonus from being played at night."

Jasper remained unimpressed as she commented, "I'm not afraid of the dark Panik." Again, hard, when you've spent over five thousand years traveling the dark vastness of space.

"You would be if you knew the fearsome nightmares that come to dwell in the darkness," Panik replied with a smirk, "The shadows obscure my entire side of the field, making you unable to see what you're facing, but it leaves your entire side of the field completely exposed for my creatures of the night to devour at will," He grinned at the nervous expressions on the others' faces, "Unnerving, isn't it? How the darkness preys on your fears, on your mind until you're too scared to think, too terrified to fight."

"Don't listen to him Yamazaki," Mai called up to Jasper, "This is exactly how Panik threw me off my game."

"Now you tell us," Lapis muttered with an eye-roll, before looking up at her sole fusion partner, _'She'll win...somehow...I just know she will...'_

"And before you think of using a field power bonus of your own to attack my castle or any other monster I play," Panik continued, "The darkness that surrounds my side of the field not only blocks out the light but also the field power bonus on your side of the field, the night is the only thing that grants bonuses here." Jasper said nothing as she drew a card.

 _'I'll give him credit for one thing, as long as those shadows are in play, I'll have no clue what I'm attacking,'_ Jasper admitted to herself, thinking over her options, _'I can't risk it, I'll just have to play it safe for now,'_ This in mind, she picked a monster and placed it in defense mode, "Warrior Lady of the Wasteland, defense mode."

Everyone below and in the nets were a little surprised to see a female human that didn't resemble the barbaric women of Greek legend, rather, she looked more like she belonged in an European tale. She wore a two-piece green outfit consisting of a tube-top and short skirt with a pair of matching platform boots that was trimmed with an off-white color and had matching laces. She wore a thick tawny-brown belt with a matching pack hanging from it, hanging from her shoulders was a tattered, dark brown cape and she wore a flat-looking matching brown hat. She wore amber brown shoulder pads and one arm was wrapped in bandages, and strapped to her back was an elegant, if simple, one-handed sword. She knelt in a patient manner, awaiting her orders.

 **Warrior Lady of the Wasteland. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: WARRIOR/EFFECT. Lv: 4. ATK/DEF: 1100/1200**

Within Yugi's Duel Spirit chamber inside the puzzle, Celtic Guardian turned just in time to see the female warrior be summoned and his mouth fell open, cheeks turning red, making Mystical Elf burst into a fit of giggles as the Dark Magician turned to hide his own chuckles.

"Not a very bright idea," Panik stated summoning a new monster, which was hidden by the shadows, "I summon Barox," All that signified the presence of a new monster was a pair of red eyes gleaming within the shadows, "Now attack her Warrior Lady with Dark Grasp of Fury!" The monster, shrouded still in shadows, lunged for Jasper's Warrior Lady, who upon being shrouded as well, was destroyed.

"That's just not fair," Leon whimpered loud enough for everyone else to hear, "How is Miss Giant supposed to fight something she can't see?" Not even the innocent silliness of the nickname could lighten anyone's mood.

"Anyone got a flashlight?" Tristan asked. "Wait, if your physical forms are made of light, can't you project it from your gemstones?" Bakura asked mostly Peridot, who seemed to think it over, before shaking her head. "We can make them glow for short periods of time," She answered, "But it all depends on the amount of brightness we project and anything pass a certain amount of time can really cause some serious light-depletion." She shuddered at the idea, gingerly rubbing the edges of her gemstone.

"When my Warrior Lady is destroyed, her ability allows me to special summon a monster from my deck," Jasper said stated, picking a card, "Just so long as its an Earth attribute and has fifteen-hundred attack points or less," She then showed him the card before playing it, "And I choose Amazoness Sage."

The monster she summoned still resembled a human female, but this time, did take after the legendary Amazons with her dark skin and lean figure, if more on the lithe side, more of a runner then a heavy hitter. Her hair was a deep, rich blue, similar to Lapis', but was pulled up into an elaborate bun with two locks framing her face and resting against her collarbone, and her eyes were a rich brown. She wore a strapless, cropped black tub-top with a loincloth-like, red skirt hanging from a black belt, showing off her toned-stomach with a second beaded belt hanging around her waist with purple feathers. Her legs were bandaged and she wore sandals. To complete her tribal outfit was a long, tattered creamy-brown cloak with a raised, yellow-feathered collar and she held a tribal staff.

 **Amazoness Sage. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: WARRIOR/EFFECT. Lv: 4. ATK/DEF: 1400/700**

"I don't think it'd be much help here anyways," Lapis commented grimly, seeing Jasper's sage didn't have very high stats, much to her own cardigan. "Even your friends are starting to loss hope in you Jasper," Panik taunted but again, Jasper didn't raise to his baiting, instead she drew a new card and focused on her hand.

 _'I need to figure out a way to get his monsters out of the shadows,'_ Jasper thought to herself running scenarios through her head, _'But the only way I can do that is by destroying that damn castle, but with a few defense points over twenty-five hundred, none of my monsters can so much as scratch it, much less destroy it...save one, but I don't have the necessary cards to summon her,'_ She briefly glanced at her opponent, _'I'm starting to see why he's called Panik, but I'm the only Gem that came out perfect out of this miserable rock...I'm not about to let a puny organic Agate wannabe stop me,'_ Once again, she picked a card and said, "Command Knight, in defense mood."

Her monster was, once again, a female warrior that didn't resemble the Amazons of legend, in fact, she looked more like a classic knight from a fairy tale in a red dress with a gray armor under her bust, a dark red helmet with orange feathers hanging from its gray decorations and she wore a long dark purplish-red cape with a pair of dark gloves and boots. One hand was gripping her sword, which was in its scabbard and the other held up her large, spiked red-themed shield as she knelt in defense-position. She was fair skinned, had long blonde hair and piercing gray eyes.

 **Command Knight. Attribute: FIRE. Tribe: WARRIOR/EFFECT. Lv: 4. ATK/DEF: 1200/1900**

"Hey, Panik said his nighttime power bonus cancels all other power bonuses, right?" Tristan asked for clarification out of suddenly nowhere. "Yeah, it was one of things he first mentioned," Peridot said in a 'duh' type of voice. "Why?" Tea asked.

Tristan pointed, "Then care to explain why her monsters' attack points are increasing?" Everyone else, save Jasper herself, blinked and looked, and sure enough, both Command Knight and Amazoness Sage's attack points were increasing by four hundred points each.

 **Amazoness Sage. ATK/DEF: 1800/700**

 **Command Knight. ATK/DEF: 1600/1900**

"What?" Panik asked confused and stunned. "Its part of Command Knight's ability," Jasper explained, "She's a team-player through and through, she increases all Warrior-type monsters attack power and in return, you can't target her so long as there are others on the field," She then switched her sage's position, "Next I switch my Amazoness Sage to defense mode."

Amazoness Sage instantly dropped to one knee, holding her staff in a defense, diagonal position.

"This defensive and unexpected power bonus may protect you from one of my monsters Jasper," Panik mused, "But not against two of them." As he said this, he summoned a second monster, which was only visible by its piercing ice-blue glowing eyes.

"He's right," Stephanie admitted mostly to herself, "Jasper can't win this duel by just defending," She then called out to the others, "Anyone got any ideas?" The teens all shrugged, even Yugi had little ideas as this was literally Jasper's first duel and he didn't know just what exact cards the soldier possessed.

"Well, if I knew how to defeat Panik and his monsters," Mai light-heartedly sassed, "We wouldn't exactly be _in_ this situation, hun."

"Maybe she can attack the darkness?" Joey suggested looking at the red clad knight, "I mean, Command Knight's a fire-attribute, right? Like my Flame Swordsman; maybe she can use her sword to make a fireball and launch it, at least then's she can see what's she's up against."

"I don't think that would work all that well Joey," Tristan admitted, "It'd be a waste of a turn."

Tea shrugged helplessly, "But what other choice does Jasper have?" Meanwhile, Jasper was having similar thoughts, but wasn't sure if such a thing was in her knight's power.

But when Jasper looked up at her monsters, imagine her surprise when Command Knight looked over her shoulder to look at her mistress with a confident smile and nod. Jasper wasn't sure if she was seeing things, but she took it as a sign to go forward and nodded back.

"Command Knight prepare for battle," Jasper told her red knight, switching the card, prompting the fair-skinned warrior to stand up to full height and draw her sword, "Flare Burst!" As Command Knight drew her sword back, it glowed with a flame-like energy and when she thrust it forward, a flame shot from the blade, it soared across the field into the darkness of Panik's field before bursting, briefly lighting up his field up and revealing the monsters within.

One was a blue-skinned bipedal creature with tawny-brown fur on its legs, resembling pants, on its shoulders and its arms from its elbows to its wrists. It had a grotesque face with a mouth full of sharp teeth and horns, having three digit claws and talons, it was the owner of the red eyes. It had a dark aura from the nighttime power bonus.

 **Barox. Attribute: DARK. Tribe: FIEND/FUSION. Lv: 5. ATK/DEF: 1794/1989***

The other one was also bipedal with black inter-skeleton with an off-beige outer-skeleton of sorts. It had little spikes on its black-plated neck and also had a mouth full of teeth, being the owner of the blue eyes. Its claws and talons were two-digit, giving a vague insect-like appearance.**

 **Dark Chimera. Attribute: DARK. Tribe: FIEND. Lv: 5. ATK/DEF: 2093/1898*****

Everyone gasped, even Jasper, "His monsters!" Panik only laughed as the flames died down and the darkness returned.

"So, you saw my creatures, I doubt it allows you the foresight of what happens next," Panik remarked before ordering, "I have two monsters and so do you, Dark Grasp of Fury!" Everyone tensed as Amazoness Sage was devoured by the darkness just as Warrior Lady had been, which was then followed by another order, "Shadow Claw of Rage!"

Command Knight tensed as she was too was pulled into the darkness. Jasper's eyes widened a little, vaguely being able to see Command Knight rising her shield to a two-digit claw, trying to fend off Dark Chimera, but was eventually overwhelmed. For a moment, Jasper's mind flashed to that faithful night, of two pink figures, one taller that the other, the shorter having longer, darker hair in a familiar gown. The shorter strikes the taller, who jerks and looks up to meet her eyes for what felt like eons before disappearing forever.

"My monsters hunger for the remainder of your life points Jasper," Panik said deeply enjoying the utterly haunted look on the seemingly unmovable quartz's face as her life points dropped, "And I'll be happy to satisfy their hunger," He smirked as he taunted her, "Have you realized it yet? Fighting a bully leaves you nowhere to go but down." He started to laugh, which made the others all grit their teeth.

Without warning, Yugi snapped, "Why don't you just shut it? You jerk!" He then transformed into Yami, who crossed his arms with a glare of steel, the controlled anger only seemed to amuse Panik as the tri-haired teen continued, "Bullies like you, they like to think that they're untouchable, that nobody can stop them, but as the saying goes," He smirked darkly, "The bigger they are, the harder they fall."

"He's right!" Stephanie agreed as she glared at Panik after giving Leon a reassuring smile, "And you're about to find out that _every_ bully gets what's coming to them eventually!" She then called out to Jasper encouragingly, "Kick his butt to the stars Jasper, show him some quartz pride!"

Seeing what Stephanie was trying to do with that last part, Bismuth and Peridot joined in. The blacksmith called, "Yeah, he's no match for ya!"

"Jasper, you're not just the most decorated soldier, you're also the most stubborn piece of quartz gem I've ever met!" Peridot added as well making everyone in her group smile a little at the compliment, however unintentionally insulting the wording may or may not have sounded, "Its actually kinda ridiculous," She shook her head with a sheepish grin, "You never had the common sense to quit before, so...why start now?"

 _'They're right, all of them, I can't quit; I will find a way to bring down Panik's castle,' _Jasper thought determinedly as she shook the memory away, unwilling to let the past control her, not now, _'I couldn't save her then, but I can save someone just as amazing **now** ,'_ That in mind, she gave the tiniest curl of a smile as she mocked, "You talk rather tough for a...fragile organic..." It was only now that Mai seemed to notice the changes in the four women, but didn't comment, too enthralled in the duel to truly react, "Especially one that chooses to hide in the shadows...like a coward." Panik growled at the blatant insult and pressed the button to activate the flamethrowers, but again, Jasper doesn't so much as flinch at the close flames or try to shield herself.

"Jasper!" Stephanie and Lapis cried out with wide eyes as Peridot and Bismuth tensed at how close the flamethrowers were to the larger quartz' gemstone. "Jasper are you alright?" Tristan called up in concern.

"You're a bigger fool than I pegged you for Jasper," Panik said trying to control his anger, "Perhaps you should think twice before insulting someone who could melt your gemstone into a pile of goop at the touch of a button," He smirked a little when he noticed Jasper's shoulders shake a little, "You're afraid, lost and alone in the dark and I'm the boogieman, about to leap out and give you the scare of your life!" But he then frowned when he realized Jasper was smirking and the shaking was from her silently laughing, "You wouldn't be laughing if you knew what I had in store for you!"

"That's why I am laughing," Jasper explained in amusement, "Because I can see, right through you."

"What are you talking about Gem?" Panik spat out her species name as if it were a curse, but Jasper didn't let it distract her. "As far as humans go, you are the boogieman, and yes, I know what that is," Jasper explained the last part quickly when she noticed the looks out of the corner of her eyes, "Scaring little pebbles into being afraid of the dark..." She smirked wider, "Until they realize there's nothing to be afraid of...like you," Panik was visibly unnerved by both her expression and her words, "All it takes is for one person to conjure up the courage not to be fearful of the unknown they disarm the only weapon the dark possess."

Leon stared at 'Miss Giant' in awe, considering her words thoughtfully as his fear began to disappear. Stephanie smiled widely, seeing that, whatever had happened to cure Jasper of her Corruption, had truly changed her for the better.

"If only it were that simple-" Panik tried to say, but Jasper wasn't having it. "It _is_ that simple!" She stated before smirking again, "And I have just the card to prove it; a card that will expose you and uplift your veil of shadows you hide behind."

"What's that?" Panik asked with the smallest hint of nervousness in his voice, but only Yami and Jasper noticed and it made them both smirk. "Its just a little card that'll teach you a lesson in broad daylight," Jasper stated with a confident tone of voice.

"Why is she telling Panik what she's going to do next?" Tea asked confused. "Its Panik, the same thing started happening to me," Mai said rubbing her arms, "You begin to make rookie mistakes."

"I don't think so Mai," Bakura said honestly, looking at the confident expression on Jasper's face, "She doesn't seem to be panicking."

Yami smirked, "That's because she's not." Lapis started to smile.

"You almost had me, but we both know that card is nothing but a bluff," Panik stated as he regained his own confidence in spite of Jasper's continued smirking, "Prove me wrong, give me my tough lesson."

"Why should I should I show show you my card after you've gone to _such_ lengths to conceal yours?" Jasper asked doing her best sassy Pearl impression from the years she spent watching Yellow Diamond's Pearl, complete with a hand over her chest and a mock scandalized-tone of voice that a little on the haunty side with a wide-eyed look.

She then dropped into a _very_ satisfied smirk as Bismuth and Peridot burst out laughing so hard they were holding their gemstones as Lapis snorted loudly and Stephanie giggled.

00000000000000

In Pegasus' observatory room, Amethyst was rolling around on her pillow laughing so hard Ruby was positive every guard in the wing they were in could hear her, occasionally, the only intelligible thing Ruby could understand was 'Jasper', Pearl' and 'Go Big Sis'. Not that Ruby had any right to be stern as she was grinning widely and, while trying, was failing miserably to contain her own giggles.

00000000000000

Even Mai and the teens looked highly amused, clearly able to tell she was mocking and playing with Panik and found it very funny. Panik was the only one lacking any appreciation of the humor, being the subject of it, instead he was glaring at her.

Panik snarled at his, literally, other-worldly opponent, "You're stalling!"

"Don't trust me Panik? Unlike you, quartzes actually uphold the idea of honor," Jasper jabbed with a chuckle, making Panik growl, "But if you don't believe, not that I care, I'll show you the card, after all, I wouldn't want you to think I was a cowardly liar."

"You don't have to prove yourself to him Jasper," Lapis whispered as Jasper revealed a magic card, "To anyone..."

"Revealing Light?" Panik said in response to Jasper's action, narrowing his eyes, "What's that card supposed to do?"

"The blinding magic of the Swords of Revealing Light, not only stops all enemy monsters from declaring an attack for three full turns, but it bathes the entire field in a light so luminous, so...radiant, that not even your creatures of the dark can hide from it," Jasper explained with a dangerous smile that rivaled the spirit of the ring to a point it made Bakura shiver a little, "Soon your monsters will have nowhere to hide, but instead of playing it now, I'm going to take a page out of your book and keep you guessing to when and how I'll use it," She held up five fingers with her free hand, "You're going down in five turns Panik," She then played a new card, "Next I summon Amazoness Tiger in defense mode!"

Her favorite card took form in a defensive crouch, its classic orange and black striped fur seemed to glow in the moonlight, her green eyes seemed to pierce through the shadows as they glowed. She wore thick gold anklets with distinctive green triangular patterns, one in the front having a gold chain on it, and she wore a matching gold collar. Her most distinctive feature was the large black stripe that crossed down her left eye, almost like a scar.

 **Amazoness Tiger. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: BEAST/EFFECT. Lv: 4. ATK/DEF: 1100/1500**

"And of course," Jasper continued playing a card face-down, "The card that'll help you see the light." The space behind Amazoness Tiger began to glow, indicating her face-down.

 _'That must be the Swords of Revealing Light, she's taunting me the bitch!'_ Panik thought growling, _'I'll show her!'_

"Why did she play the card after telling Panik what it was?" Tea asked very confused about Jasper's tactics as everyone looked at Yami for an explanation, but then looked at Mai when she answered instead.

"I hate to say it you guys but I think Jasper's losing it," Mai said taking the new name in stride, "I was able to keep it together for just this long too."

"You're wrong!" Lapis said defensively with a deep frown. "I wish I was, but Panik has a way of getting to you," Mai said in response, "Jasper's going to need more than skill to win this duel," She motioned to the field, "She has to deal with monsters coming from all directions in the dark, whilst also having to worry about being burned by fire; she's going to need; she's going to need guts to win."

The teens all shared a look, unsure how to break Gem-biology to her. Jasper may have the monsters to worry about for the sake of the duel itself, but otherwise, she was worry free as far as herself went. They each remembered the basic run-down the group of five had given them; even if the fire actually touched Jasper's physical form, she could simply regrow whatever hair was burned off for soak in light to self-heal or turn to Stephanie's healing saliva for something quicker. If greater damage was ever done, Jasper could simply retreat into her gemstone to heal.

As long as that gemstone didn't get damaged itself, she was fine.

"Jasper's the hardest, most durable quartz I've ever met," Peridot said with high-confidence, a smile on her face, "She has nothing to worry about."

"But she did just leave her best card on the field," Bakura pointed out with doubt, "You don't make those kinds of mistakes normally," He quickly added, "I mean, I get this is her first duel, but..."

"Wait," Mai blinked, "What?"

"Who said it was a mistake?" Yami asked with a smirk, "I think Jasper's giving Panik a taste of his own medicine." Everyone else looked at him curiously, but he didn't elaborate further.

Panik drew his next card and he began laughing, unnerving everyone but Jasper and Yami.

"It was a clever trick to try and illuminate me with Swords of Revealing Light, but to leave it on the field exposed was a critical error," Panik stated and Jasper said nothing, "No card is safe from the Reaper of the Cards!" He summoned a new monster, which was also hidden in the shadows, but it was a familiar one as far as a certain two are considered.

Bakura tensed before another yelp filled the air and this time, it was Tristan who jumped into Bismuth's arms, surprising and taking the blacksmith so off guard, she nearly toppled back. Bismuth's face turned a sort of noticeable darker blueish color while maintaining its grayish pigment.

Tristan, thankfully, mostly distracted from Bismuth's reaction as he stared up at the pair of new wine-red eyes glowing in the darkness on Panik's field with a frightened cry, "Not that thing again!"

"You okay Tristan?" Bismuth asked both confused and concerned, having not been apart of the Shadow Duel, thus had no clue about what he had seen and experienced in the card graveyard. Tristan, having not realized what he had done until that point, turned his head to almost be nose-to-nose with a now very blushing Bismuth, which made him blush and fall quiet.

"Don't know what's up with him," Stephanie remarked shrugging, "For a reaper, he's surprisingly docile." She didn't remember all that much exact detail from her short experience in the card graveyard to be perfectly honest, but whatever had Tristan so terrified, it wasn't what she recalled.

In fact, now that she focused on the memory, she didn't recall one figure, she recalled three, two tall women in figure-flattering dresses with odd hats on their heads that, in silhouette, looked almost like horns, and the third was taller than both women, easily dwarfing both of them, and from she recalled they were easily Garnet's height if you didn't could the horn-hats.

But oddly, beyond that, she couldn't remember anything else distinguishing about any one of them apart from their auras and brief glimpses of personality. One woman, who had a blood red aura, was rather perky in a sunshine-y, but intelligent-type of way with a wit that reminded her of Peridot on more polite and thoughtful scale. The other woman's aura was a pure golden color, resembling the sun, and she was much, much calmer compared to her red counterpart, like you could rant for hours and she would patiently listen to everything and you wouldn't have to worry about her being the least bit judgemental, it almost felt...motherly. As for the man, his aura was, in a word, blue, it reminded Stephanie of Blue Diamond's emotional aura project purely in color and it radiated power, all three did, but his command respect. If she needed just one to describe him, it would have to be gruff; he was by no means grumpy like Jasper tended to be since her healing, but he was by no means as relaxed as his two female companions, and she recalled him _always_ having a rather blunt tone to his voice.

Stephanie was snapped out of her musings, recollectings and reflections by Panik, who was taunting Jasper once again as she tuned back in, "...when it attacks, your Swords of Revealing Light will be sent to the graveyard before you can ever use it against me!" His laugh, however brief, made her ring out her ear, before he ordered, "Reaper destroy his face down card!"

The monster that burst out of the shadows with a loud wail...was not was Stephanie was expecting, simply put.

It was small, way too small to be any one of the figures she recalled from her experience, and the only thing remotely human about it, aside from being based off the Grim Reaper of popular folklore, was the scrawny, bony, clammy hands that stretched out of its hooded, tattered, black robe's sleeves, the sharp nails were a dark gray color, making them look metallic. It had a literal shadow for a face with bluish-ghostly features for eyes and a mouth and it held the traditional, if a little worn-looking, over-sized scythe as typically seen of a reaper or dark-type creature of the night in most generality.

Which made her question; if she didn't meet the Reaper of the Cards like Tristan did...then who did she meet?

 **Reaper of the Cards. Attribute: DARK. Tribe: FIEND/EFFECT. Lv: 5. ATK/DEF: 1794/2509******

She was once again pulled out of her thoughts by Mai's outburst of, "But that's her only chance!" And looked up in time to see the Reaper launch itself at Jasper's face-down, completely ignoring Amazoness Tiger, but the Reaper stopped its movements just as tip of its scythe was about to graze the card.

"What's going on? Why isn't it finishing its attack?" Panik demanded in confusion, looking at his console as a warning logo flashed on the screen, he then shouted at Jasper, "It should have destroyed your Swords of Revealing Light!"

"I just said that the Swords of Revealing Light would be the card to illuminate you, I never said I actually played it," Jasper explained with a casual shrug, an almost lazy smirk on her face, "You made that assumption on your own; the card I played is a different type of card," She picked it up off her console and turned it to reveal it wasn't a green card, but a pinkish-purply-red card, "A _trap_ card to be exact; Amazoness Archers."

As she set the card back down, face-up, her trap activated as a legion of five Amazoness women, each wielding a bow, appeared as Panik's reaper tried to retreat back to the shadows; three were in a kneeling position while the other two stood at full height, all five bows pulled back with full-force, arrows already loaded. Without warning, they released fire as the arrowheads of their arrows glowed with a pale blue light and instantly, pinning Reaper of the Cards by its own cloak to the ground before it could reach safety, leaving it unable to move or attack.

The five women smirked victoriously before disappearing.

"A trap!" Panik shouted stunned-anger. "Boo-yeah!" Joey and Tristan cheered, Bismuth having put the brunette down before the reaper was summoned, both boys punched the air as Tea cheered along with Lapis and Bakura. "Brilliant!" Peridot added at Jasper's rather clever fake-out tactic, both Yami and Bismuth nodded along, Mai was simply stunned as Stephanie and Leon cheered as well from their nets.

"Us Gems don't have a reaper like most humans do, but we do have a pretty close equivalent," Jasper said with a brief shiver, recalling the tale, making the other three gems shiver as well, much to even Stephanie's confused-curiosity, having never once heard of a Gem-equivalent of a Grim Reaper, "So I figured duel monsters would have one of their own of some kind, so I used Peridot's tablet," She ignored the green gem's squawk at this, "After learning of this one and seeing the deck you used I figured you might have one, but now its frozen and now I'm freeze to play whatever spell card I want."

"Way tah put the wool over his eyes Jasper!" Joey exclaimed, much to Bismuth's confusion. "What's wool?" The blacksmith asked lost, Peridot just made a 'not now' gesture, making the bluish-gray gem shrug.

"What...what is it with you people?" Mai asked in utter flabbergasted-amazement looking back and forth between Jasper, Stephanie and the others of their group, "I can barely keep up with any of you, even from the side lines!" Remembering something, she added, "Are you sure this is her first duel?"

As one, the three Gems and one hybrid chorused in perfect unison, "Positive!"

"She's doing surprisingly good," Bakura chirped, "But she isn't quite out of the woods yet."

"We just need to have faith that Jasper can win," Yami stated wisely, but had the upmost faith in the quartz soldier and knew she would win.

"GAH!" Panik screamed in anger, glaring daggers at an unfazed and still smirking Jasper, "You tricked me, you bitch!"

Stephanie shot the man a poisonous glare as Leon blinked innocently in confusion, the boy then started to open his mouth, but the dual-haired girl immediately, without looking at him, interjected, "Leon, if you know what's good for you, you won't ask me that question."

And Leon wisely clicked his mouth shut and, for added measure, covered it with both his hands. For a princess, she sure can be scary...

"You fooled yourself Panik," Jasper stated in a surprisingly calm voice despite the insult, probably because she had never heard the word before herself, "And wasted quite a powerful card to boot," She then held up two cards, "But now, my coast is clear, I will play the Swords of Revealing Light, along with this card, both face-down." She then played both cards face-down on the field, much to the others' confusion.

"Why would she put them face-down?" Bismuth asked confused, "I thought she'd want to use that card as soon as possible."

Yami told him, "We'll find out soon enough."

"Damn you! You may have stopped my reaper, but he's only one of the powerful monsters in my deck!" Panik cursed her as he glared at Jasper, "The ones that remain will destroy you!" Jasper stared him down unafraid.

* * *

 **Duh duh duuuh! Yeah right Panik, Jasper's the only one that's going to be doing the destroying!**

 **How about that for ya, Panik VS Jasper in Jasper's first ever duel, guess she's not doing all bad all things considered, huh, especially with the little flashback, bet you can't guess what she saw!**

 **Figured Yugi and Yami have done enough dueling for now. Plus, she's really being a whole new gem, goading Panik and imitating Pearl, now that was fun to right!**

 **On that note, oh no! Stephanie's in a net and Leon's been captured again! Poor kid, just not his day, huh?**

 **The gang knows about Gems and seem to be taking it rather well what with the whole alien-invade-plants thing. Wonder how Kaiba will take it? O.o...lol, can't wait for that!**

 **On a side note, Stephanie doesn't have much memories of her time in the card graveyard from the previous duel, but she does remembering meeting three entirely different beings. Three guesses who they are and the first one doesn't count.**

 **On the subject of notes, on to this chapters *s:**

 ***: Its been on the field for a while, so, the power bonus was already in effect, so I added it from the get-go, just saves me trouble.**

 ****: I honestly did I best trying to describe Dark Chimera, so please bare with me as the only reference pictures I could find don't give a good full-body picture, plus, to be perfectly honest, it kinda looks a little like an insect, to me anyways.**

 *****: Again, power bonus already in effect, just says me headaches and extra words.**

 ******: Once again, power bonus and you get the idea.**

 **Oh, both I forget, quick question: who do you want to see win Duelist Kingdom? Should Yugi maintain the status of King of Games with Stephanie as his Princess? Or should Stephanie become Queen of Games with Yugi as her adorkable Prince Charming? Let me know.**

 **Also, should Stephanie win a God Card in Battle City when we get there? I just find the idea...off-gaming, cause Yugi and Yami are suppose to earn them and I can just see Stephanie just giving which ever she won to Yugi with no big duel or complaint, having not much use for them herself, I have a different set of monsters in mind for her yami.**

 **Anyways, let me know what you guys all think in the reviews and I remember, try to keep it PG if you have a complaint, otherwise, you get the idea!**

 **Until next time!**


	13. Chapter 13

**In fear of sounding like a broken record: I do not own Steven Universe or any of its original characters nor do I own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of its original characters, I can say, however, that I do own Stephanie, her yami and all OCs I chose to make, including original Crystal Beasts, i.e. Bismuth Beaver, and other original cards. If I _did_ own Steven Universe, trust me, things would've been a lot different and if I own Yu-Gi-Oh there would've been a way for Atem to stay and have all his memories.**

 **So last time, we met Panik, who has taken all of Mai's Star Chips and has Leon and Stephanie trapped so he can force them to duel just as he did with Mai, but Jasper stepped up for her first duel and challenged him in Yugi's place, and she seems to be winning. At the same time, Stephanie reflected a little on her brief time in the Card Graveyard during the Shadow Duel and doesn't remember meeting the Reaper of Cards, but three very different creatures, making her wonder what had happened and who she had been talking to.**

 **Also, I had put up two different polls last chapter, but I'll get to them at the ending notes.**

 **Now, on to the review replies:**

 **foxchick1: I'm glad you like how I'm keeping the Gems updated with Stephanie's progress, hope you enjoy this new chapter!**

 **Solartiger: Hope you like this chapter too!**

 **LegionnaireBlaze: I must admit, the idea has an interesting vibe to it, since I never consider having them both face Pegasus at the same time since I don't have many two VS one duels to reference from, but I will be considering it. But you do have a point, it does sound like Pegasus would be prepared for, since I doubt he'd let such a possibility catch him by surprise.**

 **GemmaCartney: Of course Jazzie's getting love, she's one of my favorite characters! And nice pun by the way lol!**

 **Terry Southbird: Nice name, hope you enjoy the new chapter!**

 **Starfighter: I'm glad someone shares my sentiment about being as true to the anime as possible, not saying I don't like the idea of going off script, for lack of better expression, but just because, even though Stephanie and Yugi are going be going down rather similar roads doesn't mean they're so intertwined that they both need the same cards and just so you know, I am going to be giving Stephanie her own special villain, but that's Battle City, this is Duelist Kingdom, so all in due time.**

 **Now, on with the story!**

* * *

"Getting nervous yet Panik?" Jasper asked with a controlled, but dark smile as her Amazoness Tiger purred patiently for her next order, "I may have yet to actually attack your night creatures," She smiled more, showing a bit more teeth as she promised him, "But that's going to change _very soon_."

"Ridiculous," Panik said trying to hide his nervousness and fright, but it wasn't working, "What are you talking about?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about, I made you promise, didn't I?" Jasper replied and didn't give him a chance to answer, "In five turns, I would teach you a lesson you will _never_ soon forget, and I intend to make good on it," She held up four fingers, "You only have four turns left Panik," She then began to slowly count down as she continued to talk, "Four more turns until I drag you from your shadows and show everyone here just _what_ you **_really_** are."

"Do you know who you speak to?" Panik said enraged as he activated the flamethrowers, causing jets of fire to shoot into the air near Jasper, "I am Panik the Eliminator!" But Jasper just continued to smirk at him, still unfazed by the fire.

"Seriously, is this suppose to scare me?" Jasper asked with a flip of her long, wild off-white hair, making Panik growl, "Or are you running scared?"

"She's really playing with fire, isn't she?" Tea said in worry despite being aware it apparently took something as hot as flowing magma to melt a Gem's gemstone, "I sure hope she knows what she's doing."

"Yeah," Joey agreed, "Panik's playin' fer keeps." Lapis gave Joey's hand, which was still interlocked with one of hers, a reassuring squeeze.

"That's what Panik enjoys; making people sweat, making them suffer," Mai said, "For him, dueling is just an excuse for him to practice his cruelty." Yami placed a hand on the blonde's shoulder in an offer of comfort.

"Don't worry Mai," Peridot assured the female blonde as well, a confident grin, "Jasper might be a grump, but she knows what she's doing." At that moment, Panik drew his next card and smirked before he started to laugh, unnerving everyone except for Jasper and Yami.

"Miss Pink...?" Leon asked whimpering a little. "Everything's going to be okay, I promise," Stephanie assured softly.

"This beast will win the entire match for me!" Panik stated placing the card down, "King of Yamimakai!"

The shadows parted briefly as the new monster appeared, giving a glimpse of a tall, muscled fiend monster with orangey-red skin with spiky, bark-like, brown shoulder pads and matching arm-guards with armored shorts, a spiky green helmet that covered its face with a matching, large belt around its stomach with an odd horn on its chin like a beard. The shadows then shrouded the monster in its veil.

 **King of Yamimakai. Attribute: DARK. Tribe: FIEND. Lv: 5. ATK/DEF: 2000/1530**

"Powered up by the field power bonus, that all my monsters get from the night," Panik continued to grin wickedly, "My King of Yamimakai is far more powerful then your pitiful pet kitty!" Amazoness Tiger growled at the insulting nickname, fur standing on end as her new unknown opponent's power grew.

 **King of Yamimakai. ATK/DEF: 2600/1989**

"Oh no!" Leon exclaimed in worry. "Jasper!" Stephanie called out in alarm, but strangely, Jasper was the only one who didn't look very concerned.

"King of Yamimakai, destroy her Amazoness Tiger!" Panik ordered, "Electro Shock!" His monster roared and began gathering black electricity in its hands, making the four Gems and hybrid tense at the sight, before it fired a combined blast through the darkness as Amazonesss Tiger braced herself, when suddenly the blast veered sharply, avoiding the now confused wildcat.

"What?" Panik said confused, "The blast is drifting away..." His eyes widened, "Its heading straight for my Reaper of the Cards!" But he was too late to react as the blast struck, destroying the grim reaper monster instantly.

"Panik messed up!" Lapis cheered as the others all sighed in relief, even Yami looked visibly pleased and relieved to see what had happened. "No!" Panik shouted as his life points dropped, "My life points!"

 **Panik LPs: 494**

"Curse you Gem!" Panik spat glaring at Jasper, "You and your Amazoness Archers' arrows! They're enchanted light drew in my attack and destroyed my precious monster!"

"Guess you monsters don't do all that well once they dare to step outof the darkness," Jasper replied carelessly with a shrug, "Now, let's bring the rest of your monsters into the light," She flipped one of her face-downs, "I dispel all your darkness with the Swords of Revealing Light!" Brilliant beams of white light shot down onto the field from the sky, nearly blinding everyone but Jasper, even Amethyst and Ruby had to shield they're eyes from the intensity coming through the screen, as the veil of darkness began to fade away.

"Stop...stop it!" Panik cried out sounding to be in agony, covering his face from the light, "I can't stand the light!"

"No more hiding Panik," Yami called up once he adjusted to the light, "Your monsters are revealed." As the light formed several dozen swords made of light and when it dimmed enough for the others to see, they saw Panik's monsters.

"Alright Jasper!" Bismuth and Tristan cheered as Jasper's console came back on. "She revealed all of Panik's monsters!" Stephanie said with a big grin, Leon was smiling widely as well with hope. "Go Miss Giant!" Leon cheered brightly, comforted by the change in the duel.

"No more hiding Panik; you're darkness will shield you no longer, three turns left and you're finished," Jasper stated, "Not only does the Swords of Revealing Light vanquish your darkness, but it also immobilizes all monsters on your field for three full turns," She smirked, "Which means you can do nothing as I implement my strategy." Peridot and Bismuth whooped at Jasper's cleverness as Tristan and Joey fist bumped in their excitement.

 _'Does this...this...alien bitch think she can panic me?'_ Panik thought enraged, _'She might be planning an attack next turn, but the only card she has on the field is that puny excuse of a tiger,'_ He forced himself to calm down, _'i, on the other hand, still have three mighty monsters; Barox, Dark Chimera and King of Yamimakai, despite the Swords of Revealing Light they still maintain the field power bonus of the night and after three turns, they'll be free once more and Jasper will **beg** for me to end this duel.' _He couldn't keep the smirk off his face at the satisfying mental image as he drew his next card.

"You're stalling Panik," Jasper called him out, "Afraid of your next move?"

 _'She continues to goad me,'_ Panik thought un-amused, before smirking, ' _Let's see how much she likes this card,'_ Aloud, he played a card, "I play the card I've just drawn: The Chaos Shield."

"Uh oh," Joey said with wide eyes. "What?" Bismuth asked, "What 'uh oh'?"

Lapis didn't like the look of Joey's reaction, "What does it do?"

"That card raises his monsters' defense points even higher and it forces them into defense mode for as long as its active," Yami replied. "But they're defense is already so high," Tea said concerned. "He's biding time in case Jasper summons something stranger," Peridot said figuring Panik's ploy.

"You're thinking too small fools," Panik stated as his monsters all knelt and crouched in a defensive position save for his castle as a shield rose around Panik's side of the field, "I can combine this card with my Castle of Dark Illusions and project a defensive shield over my entire area!"

 **Castle of Dark Illusions. ATK/DEF: 1196/3200**

 **Barox. ATK/DEF: 1794/2600**

 **Dark Chimera. ATK/DEF: 2093/2600**

 **King of Yamimakai. ATK/DEF:2600/2600**

"But that means...Jasper can't attack his monsters either!" Peridot said with wide eyes, "Even if she somehow powered up her tiger or summoned something stronger!"

Yami nodded, "Which also means no one can attack at all."

Mai then added, "Making her a sitting duck while Panik is untouchable!" Everyone else tensed as they kept their eyes on the duel, even the two captive Gems were clinging to their pillows anxiously to see what would happen next, if Gems could bleed and had nails Amethyst's hands would be painted red right now with how she was chewing on her non-existent nails and Ruby was trying her hardest not to singe the pillow.

"Admit it you fool, don't you see how strong my monsters have become?" Panik asked Jasper, who didn't reply. "I hate to say it, but Yamazaki doesn't stand a chance at winning this duel," Mai said in melancholy, "Breaking duelists is what Panik does for a living: he's brutal, ruthless, everything the ultimate duelist needs to be..."

Lapis, Peridot and Bismuth glanced away darkly, all thinking the same thing, _'Everything an Agate or a Hessonite needs to be...'_

"You've become so cynical about Duel Monsters," Bakura commented, "You don't know anything about any of us, there's a lot more to even Jasper than meets the eye."

"Yami, do you think Jasper can win?" Tristan asked the spirit curiously. "Of course she can; Panik maybe brutal, but there's a reason quartz are often referred to as one of the toughest gems around," Yami answered with a confident smile, "Besides, just because he's choosing to hide behind a shield like the coward that he is, doesn't mean he's won the duel." Jasper glanced down at him and, while she didn't physically smile, he could by how her eyes seemed to lighten that she appreciated the faith.

"Admit defeat," Panik told Jasper, who refocused on him, "I'm going to crack you into pieces!" Stephanie and Peridot both flinched with mild fright in their eyes at the threat as Bismuth and Lapis tensed with frowns, prompting Tristan, Joey, Yami and, surprisingly, Bakura to glare up at the eliminator.

Jasper didn't seem to respond, head tilted so her bangs were hiding her eyes and her mouth was pressed into a line, but slowly that changed. It started with a small shake in her shoulders. Then her lips twisted into an amused smile as she threw her head back a controlled, amused and thunder-like rumble of a chuckle that sent shivers down everyone else's spines

"You'd like that, now wouldn't you Panik?" The quartz soldier asked, "Because its worked so well for you before; winning through intimidation and not through hard earned skill." She realized she may sound a bit like a hypocrite if one really knew her usual tactics on a real battlefield, but in her defense, it was kill or be killed and there was a reason that quartz soldiers were deliberately designed to be as big as they were.

"You mock my skills?" Panik demanded angrily, "My skill is what's defeating you!"

"I wouldn't be too sure of that; you might think that you're winning, that you're tactics are taking me by surprise, that as a complete rookie to this game you'd have an easy win," Jasper stated not at all kindly and all together blunter that a freight train, "When the truth is, I saw your strategy the exact moment I saw just what kind of pathetic worm you are."

"What nonsense," Panik said trying to contain his building anger, especially at the insult. "I knew you'd play something like Chaos Shield," Jasper said matter-of-factly without any room for argument, "Cowards like you always have something to hide behind," She then gave a nasty smile, "At least Rose had an excuse for her shield, yours is just sad." Stephanie and Bismuth burst out laughing, followed shortly by Peridot, Joey and Lapis at Panik's enraged look.

"Shut up!" Panik shouted angrily, "I am in no way a coward and I'm not hiding behind anything!"

"Your entire strategy you've been doing nothing but hid and cower," Jasper stated as she pointed firmly at him in countenance. This only fueled Panik's anger as he turned the flamethrowers towards the Gem.

"You dare call me a coward? Your kind ran away after one Gem was smashed to pieces!" Panik yelled indicating that he and by extension, Pegasus, was both aware of Homeworld and the Gem War, as well as Pink Diamond's demise, as the flamethrowers fired at Jasper, who stood complete still and calm as everyone else stared on in horror, with the exception of Yami, "Nobody talks to me that way! I am Panik the Eliminator!"

Once the flames died down, they revealed parts of Jasper's hair had been singed, but she looked perfectly calm and unfazed by the close flames and heat, or the loss of hair, all she did was roll her head getting the kinks out of her neck. Then, her gemstone glowed, lighting up the platform with its deep orange glow, much to Mai's shock as her hair was instantly repaired.

"Are you done?" Jasper asked opening her eyes to half-mast, leveling an unamused stare at him as Panik breathed heavily in rage, "Or will you continue to hide behind your buster and battlements like a colossal coward?" She began to examine the nails of her free hand with disinterest as Panik growled at her, his fists shaking, "The truth hurts, doesn't it Panik? Facing up to the truth about yourself is often more than anyone can handle," Stephanie and Yami both noticed something off about her tone, as if she were speaking from personal experience, "So you hide in the shadows."

"Stop stirring him up Jasper!" Tea warned, "He's dangerous!" Yami grabbed her shoulder gently.

"Calm down Tea," Yami told her in a reassuring voice, "Jasper is simply using Panik's own methods against him...sometimes, its simply the best way to win." She didn't look very convinced.

Peridot then added, "Besides, with the possible exception of Stephanie, the most dangerous person here is Jasper." The teens and Mai looked at her curiously, but didn't comment.

"I will turn you into a puddle of melted crystal!" Panik threatened Jasper. "You'd like to do that, wouldn't you?" Jasper said unfazed, "It would only prove just how much of a coward you are; if you're not a coward, then duel with honor, or I will teach you a meaning of true brutality." No one looked the truly malicious smile that crossed Jasper's face at the last part, not even Panik.

"You bluff!" Panik all but screamed at her. "Only one to find out for sure, now isn't there?" Jasper challenged in response, "Play out this game, after all, we'll know the answer in just two more turns," She looked at him expressionlessly, "Can you last two more turns? Do you have the courage?"

"Do I have the courage?" Panik repeated incredulously, "Panik fears nothing; no duelist, no Gem; nothing! I will crush your spirit and wipe out your life points!"

"Looks like Jasper shook Panik up a bit," Joey smirked in amusement. "Or a lot," Lapis grinned as well.

"Psychology is only half the game," Mai stated as Jasper drew.

"And now, its my turn," Jasper said playing a card, "And my card is Amazoness Swords Woman."

Her new monster was a tall, muscular tribal woman with tanned skin wearing a two piece warrior outfit that was blue with a matching head-ring with long, spiky, orangey-red hair and sharp sea-foam green eyes. She wore a pair of gold wrist guards and similar sandals, and she carried a large, curved sword that resembled a machete on a one-handed sword handle. She stood tall and proud as she appeared on Amazoness Tiger's right, the feline's chain grew longer and rose up for the warrior to grab, which she did.

 **Amazoness Swords Woman. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: WARRIOR/EFFECT. Lv: 4. ATK/DEF: 1500/1600**

"Whoa..." Tristan blinked as he, Joey and Yami blushed a bit from Sword Woman's...less then covering attire. Stephanie blushed a bit as well, not used to such clothes, before reaching as much as she could and covered a confused Leon's eyes. Lapis rolled her eyes at the boys' reaction, as did Tea, before the sea gem pulled her hand free from Joey's and elbowed him in the side, making him grunt in surprise, he looked at her confused, but Lapis crossed her arms with a pout and refused to look at him. As for Bismuth, she didn't like how Tristan stared at Jasper's monster and coughed awkwardly.

"Hey, Amazoness Swords Woman doesn't have any boosting ability," Mai said confused, "So why is Amazoness Tiger's attack points increasing?" Everyone snapped out of it and looked at the sole feline, sure enough, Amazoness Tiger's attack points were increasing by four hundred.

 **Amazoness Tiger. ATK/DEF: 1500/1500**

"Why is your tiger getting stronger?" Panik demanded, "The field power bonus on your side is cancelled out!"

"The thing about Amazonesses is that unlike most, they rely on teamwork to get the task done," Jasper explained, "Whenever I have one or more other Amazonesses on the field, they're presence gives Amazoness Tiger a power boost so long as they remain on the field," She tone then turned ominous, "My turn is over, but you're finished as well."

 _'What is she talking about? She might have made her pet cat a little stronger, but it still pales in comparison to all three of my monsters, not even her pathetic swordswoman can scratch them, much less my Chaos Shield,'_ Panik thought with narrowed eyes, _'There must be more to her plan then that,'_ He then drew his next card and grinned at it, "Ah perfect," Jasper merely arched a brow before he summoned a new monster, "Metal Guardian in defense mode."

Paink's new monster idly reminded the Gems', vaguely, of Yugi's/Yami's Giant Soldier of Stone combined with a more robotic and dark appearance, being made all of metal. It had large oddly spiked-like shoulder padding and it, again, oddly didn't have any legs, instead it had two motorcycle-like wheels for hands and a third almost unicycle-like wheel attached to the bottom of its body in place of its legs. It appeared outside of the Chaos Shield before moving into a defensive position in front of it.

 **Metal Guardian. Attribute: DARK. Tribe: FIEND. Lv: 5. ATK/DEF: 1150/2150**

"Great a new creepy thing," Peridot muttered. "I don't like the looks of this," Joey added tense and anxious as Metal Guardian's power rose from the nighttime power bonus.

 **Metal Guardian. ATK/DEF: 1495/2795**

"With him on guard," Panik stated confidently, "Any attack on my monsters is totally impossible."

"Go figure," Jasper scoffed unimpressed, "You're cowering again."

"Shut your mouth!" Panik snapped savagely at her. "Your strategy is nothing but putting up defenses," Jasper continued anyways, "You're showing just how weak you really are."

"Be silent!" Panik raged, "Next turn the Swords of Revealing Light will be extinguished, then I'll hit you with everything I've got!"

"It'll be too late for that, I've already led you into my trap," Jasper stated with a slight shake of her head, "The stronger you make your defenses, the easier it becomes to defeat you."

"That's a joke," Now it was Panik's turn to scoff, "You're nothing but talk."

"The time for talking is long over for that was your last turn," Jasper told him, "And your end begins with her, Amazoness Trainee."

She summoned yet another dark skinned Amazoness, only this one was slightly younger compared to Jasper's other monsters, looking like a fourteen-year-old, well-fit girl with waist-long raven-black, wild hair pulled back into a ponytail with doe-shaped reddish-brown eyes wearing a dark teal two-piece with black tiger-stripes for a pattern, wearing patching armbands, gold wristbands and dark sandals. Her weapon was a long golden chain with a spike at each end, one being golden like the rest of the chain, the other being an actual blade and bigger in size. Her presence made Amazoness Tiger purr as her attack power grew further.

 **Amazoness Trainee. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: WARRIOR/EFFECT. Lv: 4. ATK/DEF: 1500/1300**

 **Amazoness Tiger. ATK/DEF: 1900/1500**

"Another savage woman won't make a difference!" Panik stated earning dark looks from both Amazoness Swords Woman and Trainee, "You're pet kitty still can't make a scratch in my defenses!" Amazoness Tiger growled warningly.

"Maybe not by her lonesome," Jasper replied playing a second card, a magic card, "Which is why I'm playing Amazoness Trainer to increase her power further."

Yet another Amazoness appeared, another young girl with similar looks to Amazoness Trainee, but with bushier hair and sharper eyes wearing a tawny corset and short skirt with harness-like leggings and held a leather whip, which she cracked against the ground. Amazoness Tiger roared with anticipation as she rose into an attack position, feeling her power increase even further as she readied in to a pounce.

 **Amazoness Tiger. ATK/DEF: 2300/1500**

"She just increased her tiger's attack tah over two thousand in just one turn!" Joey's jaw dropped open as he expressed his amazement. Lapis smirked, "He's in real trouble now."

"Now the card that will finish you," Jasper continued playing one last card, another magic card, "Ancient Catapult!" An old fashioned, wooden catapult materialized on her field.

"WHAT?" Panik shouted in shock.

Everyone watched as Amazoness swung her chain to catch the end of the catapult that swung up and tied it place with a worn-looking rope. With another sharp crack of Amazoness Trainer's whip, Amazoness Tiger leaped up onto the platform of the catapult and tensed, waiting for action that she was internally dreading as Amazoness Swords Woman rose her sword high into the air.

"Slow and steady wins the duel Panik," Jasper stated as this was happening, "And I can use my Ancient Catapult to shatter your defenses as it increased my tigers attack power even further to thirty-two hundred!"

 **Amazoness Tiger. ATK/DEF: 3200/1500**

 _'No way..._ _'_ Stephanie thought, _'She's not going to do that is she?'_

"What is Miss Giant planning?" Leon asked her curiously but Stephanie didn't get to answer as Panik laughed.

"You can't touch my monsters," He told Jasper, "They're protected by my Chaos Shield, you can only watch as they prepare to assault on your next turn."

"Who said anything about attack your monsters?" Jasper asked in response, before pointing at Panik's castle, "I'm attacking the castle." Mai gasped.

"My castle is still invincible to any of your attacks," Panik said, "So I won't take any damage at all."

"We'll see about that," Jasper replied, before ordering, "Swordswoman, launch Amazoness Tiger." With all her strength, Amazoness Swords Woman swung her sword down, severing the rope the her two comrades watched as the catapult sent Amazoness Tiger flying with a roar directly at Panik's castle, creating a giant explosion that even had Bismuth and the three Amazonesses shielding their eyes.

"That move cost Jasper a lot of life points," Tristan commented worriedly as Jasper's life points dropped severely.

 **Jasper LPs: 300**

"That was an awfully risky move," Bakura agreed not entirely realizing he had pulled Peridot closer to shield her from the intense light the explosion had caused, fearing the over light absorption she had mentioned before, Peridot made no comment to his actions, "In both life points and sacrificing her strongest monster."

"Maybe," Peridot admitted, "But if that doesn't bring that floating piece of stone, nothing will." Lapis and Bismuth nodded in agreement, so imagine their surprise when the smoke cleared to reveal the castle was still in one piece.

"WHAT?" Peridot shouted nearly falling over. "Oh no!" Stephanie cried as Leon whimpered. "It survived!" Tea and Yami exclaimed in shock.

"You fool, for all your talk all you've managed to do is knock my castle's floatation ring off a bit," Panik laughed and everyone squinted to see a crack in the kanji on the castle's ring, making the four side line Gems flinch, "It's been five turns and my monsters are still standing safe behind my Chaos Shield, when your turn is over the effects of Swords of Revealing Light will vanish, then on my next turn I will attack you with all my monsters and wipe you out forever!" He then began to laugh madly as the others all stare up with wide, anxious eyes...but Jasper only smirked and crossed her arms, a confidence that was mirrored by her Amazonesses.

"There will be no next turn for you; this duel is already over," Jasper stated in a matter of fact tone that made Panik and Mai's eyes widen, Jasper then did another Pearl-impression with an mock thoughtful expression of naivety on her face as she tapped her chin in thought, "Doesn't it seem odd to anyone that a castle that lost its floatation device is still standing?" Peridot and Bismuth, having the most grasp on such tech, gasped in realization, "What do you suppose if the Swords of Revealing Light not only locked your monsters in place, but the castle as well?"

Panik's eyes widened, "But...but that means..." Stephanie and the other Gems gasped in realization.

"Its over," Jasper stated, "The castle is about to come crashing down on all your monsters."

"No!" Panik screamed in disbelief, "Nobody defeats Panik!"

"I believe I just did," Jasper said dismissively, turning up her gemstone casually, "My turn is over." No sooner did she verbally confirm it did her Swords of Revealing Light began to dim and fade away until they vanished completely, causing the castle to begin to plummet directly towards Panik's monsters.

"Run monsters!" Panik cried in vain, "Get out of the way!"

"Its pointless, the Chaos Shield has stopped them from doing anything," Jasper told him tone still dismissive as her monsters all started giggling as their mistress examined the nails of her free hand, "You've trapped them all inside; they have literally no where to go."

Panik's monsters banged against the shield in a frantic attempt to escape, but were crushed beneath the sandstone bricks of the castle regardless, making Stephanie cringe as it kicked up a large dust cloud. When the dust settled, it revealed the field barren as Panik's life points dropped completely; Jasper had won her first duel.

 **Panik LPs: 0**

"She won!" Tea and Leon cheered happily as Tristan, Joey and Bismuth whooped, the blacksmith slapping both boys a bit too hard, knocking them both to the ground with thuds, Peridot was doing a happy dance as Bakura and Yami shared a smile and Stephanie sagged in relief, her heart pounding in her ears as Lapis smiled in satisfaction.

0000000000000000

"Whoo-hoo!" Amethyst cheered punching the air in triumph, "Go sis!"

"Whoopie...!" Ruby cheered a little on the quieter side, "Whoopie..."

0000000000000000

"And Panik's not taking it very well," Lapis chuckled as Jasper's Amazons disappeared, smile turning into a smirk. "I'll say," Tristan commented from the ground, "Panik's having a panic attack." Joey snickered at the pun as did Peridot, Yami and Bakura as Mai kept gaping up at the arena.

"Nobody beats Panik! Nobody!" Panik screamed fists raised, "I may not have defeated you Jasper, but I can still eliminate you! You and your precious half-breed, too!" Everyone's eyes widened at the threat.

Panik then slammed his fists down on his console and Stephanie cried out, "JASPER!" As her net suddenly accelerated upwards along with Leon's only to suddenly drop at the same speed, making them both cry out in alarm.

"Stephanie!" Yami and Peridot cried but a blue glow made them all look over at Lapis, Joey watched transfixed and entranced as her gemstone glowed before her wings grew forth. "Whoa..." Joey whispered in awe at how the water gleamed beneath the moonlight.

Lapis shot her arms out with tense hands, turning her wings into a pair of large watery arms and hands, which twisted around to catch both nets before they could hit the ground, the solidified water stretching like silly putty but felt smooth like silk or velvet under the two captive humans' hands, preventing them from getting hurt. Stephanie sighed in relief as they were gently set down.

Jasper simply twisted around, snapping the shackles with virtually ease and grabbed one of the flamethrowers by the neck and easily yanked it out in a display of sparks and flying cables. With both hands she swung it into the other one, knocking it clean off and flying into a tree, tossing the first one after it a moment after. She then lifted a leg and simply snapped the shackle off, then she did the same with the other. She then snapped the two into pieces and tossed the pieces to the ground carelessly.

"She's so strong..." Bakura said in stunned-amazement at Jasper's amazing strength.

"Steph!" Peridot cried as she and Lapis ran over. "Leon!" Lapis cried as they helped the two out of the nets as Tea and Mai jogged over to help.

"H-How...?" Panik whimpered as Jasper shot him a truly monstrous look as green spots began forming across her form and horns started to sprout atop her head, creating a deviously demonic picture. "You cowardly little...INSECT!" Jasper roared enraged by the underhandedness. Panik quickly had the platform lower, sensing the impending danger of the female, only to stop upon finding his path of escape had been blocked at both sides by Bismuth and Yami.

"I guess any version of the perfect warrior values strength in some form or another," Yami commented as his puzzle glowed and the Eye of Horus formed on his forehead once more. "One of the things I actually admire about the soldier," Bismuth said off-handedly as she changed her hands into her crescent blades, silently daring Panik to try something.

"I won't end here!" Panik shouted knowing it was safer to charge Yami, who was unarmed. "For all your cruel ways and shameless underhandedness, nothing is going to save you!" Yami stated unfazed by Panik's attempt to intimidate as the glow got more intense, "Consider this your long earned retirement!" Yami held out his hand towards the dark duelist hitting him with burst of dark energy that made Bismuth shiver as Panik screamed before crumpling to the ground in an unconscious heap.

At that moment, Jasper rounded the corner and viciously growled, making Bismuth and Yami wisely, and cautiously, back away as she glared down at Panik, who she then grabbed with one hand, the other pulled into a tight fist. Jasper's eyes were completely dilated with utter rage as she tightened her fist and pulled it back.

 _Her mind flashed continuously. Looking into dark pink eyes full of a warm allure of warmth and a pleasantness she couldn't describe as she knelt before her. She was on her knees clutching her swollen arm, everything she thought she knew being put into question as she looked up into a pair of deep brown eyes, feeling a strange familiar allure despite the different color, perhaps it was the hairstyle. She was then on a painfully familiar battleground as haunting pink eyes looked up at her from a tall pink figure that looked stunned before trying to open her mouth as if to scream...before..._

Bismuth and Yami both cringed at the sickening crunch Panik's nose made as Jasper punched him in the face, instinctively, Yami put Yugi's side of the link on lockdown so he couldn't watch the spurting blood from Panik nose and mouth from the force of the impact. He then winced and held his stomach protectively as the angered quartz kneed Panik in his own abdomen roughly bringing up more blood. She gave a feral snarl as she began tossing him around like a ragdoll.

It wasn't until she sent him hurtling back first into a tree that she started to scratch at herself, as if finally noticing her changes, collapsing soundly to one knee.

Yami and Yugi switched back and the little male moved as close as he dared to the distressed quartz, "Jasper...Jasper!" Bismuth grimaced, mentally preparing herself to stop Jasper from seriously hurting him, "Its okay...everything's okay!" Jasper stared at him, long and hard, breathing heavily.

Then, she felt a small hand on her shoulder and her head snapped around to see Stephanie, who looked at her with her big brown eyes and told her, "He's not worth it." After a long moment, the green spots and horns began to disappear until all that was left was her brownish-orange palette.

At this point, the others finally arrived to see the aftermath of Jasper's little freak-out and they all recoiled at the sight of Panik's state, Tea actually looking a bit sick as she tried to hide Leon from the sight. Joey swallowed after a long moment, before finding his voice, "She...really hates dirty players...huh?" Peridot and Bismuth shrugged nervously while Lapis merely looked away, none of them able to provided a savory answer.

Stephanie then walked over, rather calmly, over to Panik and took a moment to survey the damage with a cold look in her normally. From the look of it, Jasper's rough tossing dislocated if not popped several bones out of place and blood flowed like a river from both ears, nose and mouth, visible skin bruised like an apple that had been washed down rapids and the legs were bent at an unsavory angle and it wasn't the knees that were bent. Stephanie had no doubt that if it weren't for whatever Yami had done, Panik would'v been screaming in utter agony, assuming the impact to the tree didn't provide the finishing blow. In fact, she would be pretty surprised that, should she check, there would be a heart-beat, however slow.

Despite not knowing much about Panik as a whole, she had seen enough of his swallow character to know that if given the chance, unlike Lars, would **_not_** change, if anything, he would only get _**worse**_ if she used her tears.

So she did something she thought she would never do and the detactedness she felt as she did it would forever haunt her; she completely ignored the injured and pained life that was most likely on death's doorstep, and didn't try to help. Instead, took the Star Chips from his gloves, which were miraculously in tact without a speck of blood anywhere, calmly plucking each gold piece with one hand and piling them in the other.

"Diamonde..." Mai said still in shock as the girl walked back over. "Actually, its Universe; Stephanie Universe," The two-toned haired girl corrected with a friendly smile as she picked out eight of the Star Chips she had retrieved, then held them out for Mai to take, "Here, these belong to you."

But when Mai didn't take them right away, Tea encouraged her with a smile, "Go on."

"I'm sorry, I can't take them," Mai shook her head, "I fight my own battles."

"I don't know if you don't remember everything that happened in the last couple of minutes," Peridot commented a little irritably with a frown, "But I recall both Leon and Stephanie's lives being put on the line here, as well as Jasper putting her own gem out there to win those."

"I know that!" Mai replied hotly, but her expression turned conflicted, "Its just..." She never got to finish as Lapis waltzed over and took all eight Star Chips.

"Don't bother trying to argue with her, Peridot," The blue Gem said smirking, "If she wants to be booted off the island, than its her choice; I'm sure we can find a proper home for these." Mai's face turned red with indigent danger at the amused look on Lapis' face with a dark frown.

"You think me losing all my Star Chips is funny Mizushima or whoever you are!" Mai shouted running after the girl, who just continued to grin, hand with the Star Chips high in the air to keep Mai from them, it made Leon and Stephanie giggle as the others all smiled. "Oh so _now_ you want them," Lapis teased gracefully avoiding Mai's attempts to grab at them.

"Give them back!" Mai shouted only to yelp when Lapis suddenly turned and grabbed her wrist, placing the Star Chips in her hand. "Of course, they're yours after all," Lapis said.

Mai looked at her stunned, "R-Really...? I thought you didn't...well..."

"Like you? Trust me I don't, but didn't you learn anything in from the duel?" Lapis replied still smirking, "You can't always keep your defenses up, because if there's one thing I've learned one this planet its that keeping your guard up is going to make you miss out on some really amazing things," She smiled over at Stephanie, who smiled widely at her, "And the name's Lapis, Lapis Lazuli."

Mai blinked for a moment but smiled, "Thanks...Lapis Lazuli..." When Lapis started to walk by, Mai gently stopped her and leaned in to whisper, "By the way, even though I usually have higher standards, Wheeler's quite a catch, don't you think?" Mai then winked playfully as Lapis' face turned eggplant purple from embarrassment, familiar with the expression from all the romance manga Garnet had given her in the past, making Mai chuckle.

"Besides, if we really wanted Star Chips," Stephanie commented holding up the remaining Star Chips she had taken from Panik's gloves, "We could always take some of Panik's, its not like he's going to be using them any time soon." Her nolcohant shrug disturbed Lapis, Peridot, Bismuth and the distantly watching Amethyst and Ruby, but they said nothing as she pressed one hand over the chips and formed a familiar pink bubble around them, catching the humans off guard.

"Steph..." Tea whispered as Stephanie's gemstone glowed as she lowered the bubble to be level with it and with a pale pinkish-white light, the bubble and chips were gone, stored inside the gemstone. "Hey, if I want Star Chips, I'd rather earn them the proper way," Stephanie stated, "This is an 'just in case' thing," She then noticed the surprised looks on Lapis, Bimsuth and Peridot's faces and shrugged, "What? Pearl wouldn't teach me how to store things so I asked Garnet too and she said yes."

"We should move," Jasper said suddenly getting everyone's attention as the giant of a woman retrieved her deck, "Before more Eliminators show up." Leon tensed at the idea and immediately clung to Stephanie, who smiled reassuringly to him.

But as they started to walk away, Mai shouted, "Yamazaki, Yugi, Dia-Stephanie, wait!" They all stopped and turned back to her so she continued, "I'll repay you three for what you did today."

"But Mai, you don't have-" Stephanie tried to protest. "You won these as far, so as far I'm concerned I still owe you three," Mai cut her off, "More then I've ever owed anyone before, so, when we finally met in a duel; its going to be an honorable one, for all three of you."

Stephanie blinked, stunned by Mai's declaration but it made her share a smile with Yugi, who was also pleased with the apparent change in the female blonde. She looked up over her shoulder at Jasper, who had an unreadable expression on her face, but if one looked hard enough, they could see the corners of her lips twitching into the tiniest ghost of a smile.

Yugi was the one who answered Mai, "Its a duel we'll be looking forward to Mai..." With that, they finally parted ways, Yugi blinked when a much smaller hand slipped into his and looked to see it had been Leon, whose other hand clutched onto Stephanie's, who glanced at her fellow duelist and shrugged, Yugi shrugged back, figuring Leon was still frightened from the whole experience.

As they walked, Joey suddenly asked, "So Lapis, what did Mai tell ya?"

"Nothing!" Lapis said rather quickly, face turning an even darker purple. "Ya sure?" Joey asked really concern by how purple her face was turning, leaning in to make sure nothing was physically wrong with her, "Yer turnin' really purple, is yer gem okay?"

Lapis face just got hotter and more purple, leaning away, "I'm fine! She was just messing with my head!" Everyone laughed at Joey's obliviousness as Leon swung his arms a little, smiling at the odd sense of safety he felt as Stephanie and Yugi swung their arms a little along with him.

"Maybe yer gem's chipped?" Joey suggested, "Here, I'll check."

"No!" Lapis yelped jumping at warmth that ghosted over her back from his fingers, "Joey! I'm fine, don't touch-! Joey Wheeler!"

* * *

 **And I'm done! Things sure took a bit of a turn huh? Looks like Jasper's not as cured as I thought she was.**

 **Anyways, whelp, Jasper won her first duel, let me know what you guys think and I think Mai's a SeaPuppy shipper, and spoiler alert, a song's in the next chapter. Stayed tune for the next one to find out what one though.**

 **By the way if everything after this point is a little lengthy, I'm sorry in advance, but bare with me, its important:**

 **You guys are really taking to my unofficial polls of whether or not Stephanie should win a God Card and which it would be, and if Yugi should keep his title of King of Games or if Stephanie should become Queen of Games.**

 **First off, should she get a god card or not:**

 **Well, two of you have voted yes that it would be cool for her to win a God Card and one has voted no for a similar reason that I had for having reservations for her winning a God Card, not to say it wouldn't be interesting, I'm just saying that plot wise and morally earning each card, it'd be a little...con-traversal lets say.**

 **Now for the next part, which God Card should she win should I decide to for her win one if anything for the sake of plot convince:**

 **Well, those same two who voted yes to the first one also voted for her to win the big, bad, blue titan that is Obelisk the Tormentor and for her to be the one to hand Kaiba his first defeat in the Duelist Kingdom finals instead of Yugi and Yami, which would be an interesting twist, but I digress, as we still fairly early into the Duelist Kingdom Arc, but that doesn't go to say it doesn't pay to be prepared. No one seems to be keen on her winning Slifer instead of Yugi or winning Ra early from Marik, but hey, that's fine, to each their own.**

 **Now for the final part, should Yugi keep his cannon title or not? Well, this is what some viewers had to say.**

 **So fair, the vote for a king or queen is a respective three-to-two, as one person did not care one way or the other, so I'm counting it as a double vote for both, but did offer an interesting ultimatum I think the rest of you guys might fine interesting:**

 **Instead of Stephanie and Yugi's eventual stand off for the chance to duel Pegasus ending in one victor, instead it would end in a draw, resulting in them both dueling Pegasus, who would seem smart enough to plan for that sort of outcome if you think about it, in a two VS one duel out in a different arena, and that the one with the lowest points at the end would be crowned the lower title and the one with the higher, should they defeat Pegasus, would be crowned the victor as well as king or queen.**

 **Let me know what you guys think.**

 **Also, I'm still looking for shipping ideas as well as songs for shipping moments since, as I stated in an earlier chapter, this would not be a Steven Universe, written or otherwise, without some kind of music or song, even if the characters aren't the ones singing!**

 **So please, give me song lists with pairings in mind!**

 **Please review, till next time my adorable viewers!**


	14. Chapter 14

**In fear of sounding like a broken record: I do not own Steven Universe or any of its original characters nor do I own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of its original characters, I can say, however, that I do own Stephanie, her yami and all OCs I chose to make, including original Crystal Beasts, i.e. Bismuth Beaver, and other original cards. If I _did_ own Steven Universe, trust me, things would've been a lot different and if I own Yu-Gi-Oh there would've been a way for Atem to stay and have all his memories.**

 **So last time, Jasper won her first duel and Panik is in some pretty bad shape, but hey, who cares about him right now? Everyone seems to be accepting the Gems and Stephanie, and now, someone new is going to be clued in to everything.**

 **Now, on to our review replies:**

 **foxchick1: Nice to know new things have an appeal, hope you enjoy this chapter!**

 **LegionnaireBlaze: Enjoy this next one, cause things are about to get interesting.**

 **dukealbert123: I want to say thanks for an honest opinion; even if I do have the power of veto in the end, I still value others' opinions and I'm always willing to hear what they have to say, so know that yours has been heard, and please keep reviewing and enjoy the new chapter.**

 **silvergolddragon: Hmm, I don't think there's a cannon fusion of the Egyptian God Cards, sure, there have been sequences in the anime where Yugi and Yami use the three in a combined attack, but I don't think there's ever been an actual fusion with any of them, much less all three, if I'm wrong please enlight me, cause it would be cool, so the idea is tempting to try out.**

 **Crow-DarkHeart: Amen to that. Lol!**

 **Wolffang1795: I just want to start this reply out and say that is a cool name, no joke. Also, its nice to see others share my sentiment with the anime's direction and when you put it that way it would make a lot of sense of Yugi to keep his title, the God cards and face Pegasus himself. As for the Diamond cards...well...that would be telling, now wouldn't it? Also, I have thought ahead to Yugi and Stephanie possibly fusing, it won't be happening until well after Duelist Kingdom, but I will allow this small spoiler and say that is in the future, and I can see their fusion being a general happy, carefree individual with a deep love for their friends and family and maybe a little too much goodness in their heart, didn't think about their Yamis like that though, as for Lion, well, again, that would be telling. Anyways, hope you enjoy this chapter!**

 **Now, on with the story!**

* * *

On the mainland, within the meeting room of KaibaCorp HQ, five men in well-tailored, expensive suits, known as the Big Five, sat before a wide screen. On the other end of the video conference was none other than Pegasus.

"With Kaiba still reeling from his loss to Yugi," One of the men stated to Pegaus, "Its the perfect time to seize control and bring this company's reputation back to what it once was."

"Patience gentlemen," Pegasus, who was in his observation room with a still present Amethyst and Ruby, who were glaring silently at him, having learned not to bother calling for help at this point, "Once I defeat little Yugi and Stephanie, Kaiba's company will become ours."

"I still fail to see the importance of this...beach foreigner," A different member of the Big Five commented distainfully, making both Amethyst and Ruby growl quietly. "Had you finished Seto Kaiba off like you originally promised we would have seized control of KaibaCorp already," Another member interjected, "But don't worry, we'll finish the job for you."

"No," Pegasus said swift and firm, his Millennium Eye flashing briefly, "Nobody is to lay a finger upon Seto Kaiba."

"But if Kaiba can rescue his little brother," One of the five protested, "We'll lose our only claim to the Kaiba name."

Amethyst, out of spite, muttered under her breath, "Good." Eliciting a quick shush from Ruby.

"Mokuba's future role as the company's figurehead will not be jeopardized by Kaiba's presence," Pegasus stated confident and matter-of-factly, rolling a pink sphere between his fingers, everyone had a hard time figuring out if it was some sort of gemstone or an over-sized marble, "Trust me gentlemen, I have my own plans for Seto Kaiba and the technology his company possesses."

All five men could only say, "Don't fail us."

"Gentlemen, KaibaCorp is about to enter a new era of prosperity," Pegasus told them, "And as for that...beach foreigner...well, let's just say that, that little girl holds the key to the greatest medical achievement in all world history," He glanced down at his reflection in the pink sphere as a lighter pink energy seemed to dance within it, "To put it quite bluntly; you're all about to become beyond obscenely or stupidly rich," He stood and walked over to a window, gazing up at the full moon as he rose up the sphere to look through it, admiring the rich pink tones, "As for you Kaiba, our partnership is only just beginning."

Meanwhile, approaching the island in a helicopter was Seto Kaiba himself manning the controls, his briefcase on the passenger seat with a handheld device with a little screen strapped to one hand. The voice from his secret underground computer coming front a micro-speaker somewhere on the device, commented, "You know, I _still_ can't believe _all_ of your business associates would turn on you after just **_one_** defeat."

"In my own defense that duel mad a big blow to my self-confidence," Kaiba admitted mostly to himself, thinking back to that faithful duel, of how Yugi not only managed to summon the unstoppable Exodia, but his very words still rocked Kaiba to his core and haunted his mind, "Who knows, maybe he was right about my attitude."

"Ha!" The computer scoffed with a fair bite of sarcasm, "No, really?"

Kaiba chose to ignore it, "But I can't go second guessing myself, not now; not when Pegasus is holding Mokuba hostage," He shook his head, "If I'm going to beat him, I'm going to have to rely on my old dueling instincts and once I'm finished with him..." Kaiba's eyes narrowed dangerously with malice as his grip on the controls turned his knuckles white, "I'll turn my wrath onto those vultures who thought they could give Pegasus _my_ company and dismantle my life's work!" He focused on the approaching island as he growled silently, _'They'll regret double crossing Seto Kaiba.'_

 _ **000000000000000000000**_

Back on the island, the ground had finally decided to settle down for the night when Peridot and Stephanie finally got the value of sleep through Bismuth and Jasper's heads and found a nice, sizable glen to camp out in. Yugi had the sense to bring a tent, which he happily lent to Tea, while Stephanie summoned several warm sleeping bags of varying colors from her gemstone that Connie and Peewee talked her into bringing so she'd always have a warm place to sleep and spares should anything happen to the one she had been using, happy to share them as well.

Jasper and Bismuth, not needing to sleep but appreciating the concept of relaxing, simply either sat against a tree trunk or found a log to lay on. Peridot, taking a more nomadic approach, had gathered some large bundles of soft, tall grass and bunched into a pile for her to rest on and Lapis merely flew up to sit on a thick cluster of branches, using the soft cluster of leaves to relax, wanting some space. Likewise, Joey and Tristan were in an apple green tent to the left of Tea's indigo tent, while Bakura had the mahogany red one the other side with Leon sharing him, leaving Yugi and Stephanie to share a reddish-pink tent together as they had run out of space for separate ones, across from Tea's tent.

"Hey Bakura," Stephanie said as they and Yugi sat by the fire, Leon lying against her otherside, "Is it just me or is your Millennium Ring pointing at Pegasus' castle?" In confusion, Bakura held up his ring and sure enough, one of the spike-like inks were glowing and floating against gravity, pointing towards the castle.

"Its not just you, this isn't the first time its done this, heck, its not even the second," Bakura replied, "It did this back in Domino City when I first arrived at the high school where we all go, it just started pointing at Yugi's puzzle when I watched him and Joey play Duel Monsters once," He motioned to Yugi, then to her, "Then just a while ago, before I boarded the ship, its just started to glow again and then pointed at your group, Stephanie, well, rather, your earrings." She hummed thoughtfully, touching one of the cross-shaped earrings.

"So...what, do you think it can track Millennium Items?" Stephanie asked a small smile growing on her face, "That's actually kinda cool." Bakura blushed pleasantly at the compliment, smiling bashfully.

"It would explain why its pointing at the castle," Yugi nodded in thought, "That's where Pegasus and his Millennium Eye is," He then focused his gaze on the dying embers of the campfire with a distant look in his normally bright eyes, memories beginning to surface, "Its...how he stole my grandfather's soul..." He clenched his fists, remembering the helpless feeling he had before when he saw his grandfather's soul in the television screen, calling for him.

Stephanie nodded in agreement, her own eyes distant and misty as she recalled her own experience, "And my dad's too..."

"Its all rather scary isn't it?" Bakura mused, "Pegasus being able to steal souls with his Millennium Item and I'll never forget what mine had nearly accomplished." His hands tightened around the object in question, expression crestfallen.

Stephanie chuckled nervously, "Don't remind me..." She then gave him a light, playful nudge, "And you shouldn't keep moping over that, ya know," He looked at her with a surprised and perplexed expression, "Right from the start the spirit made it pretty clear that he and you were two **very** different people and that you had _no_ power over the situation, and he's gotten his punishment for the whole thing, if there's one thing I've learned its that you shouldn't take responsibility for what someone else has done." She inwardly cringed at how much of a hypocrite that made her feel, but she kept it down, as she focused on uplifting Bakura's spirits, she rubbed the area below her stomach instinctively as she thought of her mother's war crimes.

Noticing her actions and guessing what she was thinking about, Bakura commented thoughtfully, "I wonder what you and the Crystal Gems have to do with any of this..." Yugi looked over, having had similar questions since discovering the truth about her, "I can't just be because of the earrings, you said you just got them after all."

"With my luck, it might having something to do with my mother," Stephanie admitted not looking too pleased, yet rather nonchalant at the same time about the idea, "I mean, she's well over five-thousand years old and Pegasus mentioned something about that time frame and Shadow Games and ancient pharaohs when we dueled."

Yugi looked at her sharply, eyes wide with surprise, _'He mentioned something like that to me too,'_ Out loud, he questioned, "So you think your mother might have something to do with the Millennium Items?"

"To be honest, nothing could surprise me about her anymore," Stephanie answered with a deep sigh, idly wondering when there was going to be an end to her mother's secrets and deceits, "And if not with them, she did do a lot of traveling, who knows, maybe she and Pegasus crossed paths once and now he wants something from her, I really don't know." Both boys looked at her sympathically, unable to imagine something like an unknown parents' past having such...baggage carried over to the child.

But then, Leon unintentionally broke the ice by slipping a little, instantly grabbing Stephanie's attention and distracting her from the conversation as she caught him before he could fall off his seat, smiling a bit as she did, "Hey, careful!" Leon just moaned in his sleep and cuddled up to her as if she were a teddy bear.

Both boys chuckled more openly and genuinely at the warm, real smile on her face. "Someone's tired," Yugi commented in amusement, but was secretly envious of Leon's closeness to the two-toned girl. "Can you blame him?" Bakura mused with a smile, "Nearly getting eliminated twice from the tournament in the same day must certainty take a bit out of a person."

"I'll say," Stephanie remarked as she easily wrapped an arm around Leon's small form and kept him cradle to her side as he was, not having the heart to move him and simply carried him easily that way, "Poor kid." Both boys blinked at once again at her display of strength, though Leon was on the small side for his age, he was still decently heavy and right now, he was dead weight, which should've been hard to lift for any girl of her height, despite her stocky(ish) build, yet she seemed just fine, as if she were handling a doll.

If anything, Yugi couldn't help noticing how motherly the pose made her look and his face burned at his own thoughts.

She carefully set him down onto his open sleeping bag inside his and Bakura's tent before just as carefully prying his arms from around her and settled him into the bag, zipping it carefully to tuck him in. Not once during this did Leon stir, instead he just cuddle deeper into the warm, soft material of the sleeping bag with a tired groan, whispering softly as Stephanie brushed a hair from his face, "Mama..." Which caught Stephanie off guard, but she smiled a little, figuring he was just homesick and dreaming of home.

Soon, she, Bakura and Yugi were settling into their own sleeping bags, but not before Stephanie summoned one last thing from her gemstone, an MP3 player that looked like it was styled after a USB stick that was a gentle indigo color with little white stars for decoration with a pair of dark blue earbuds.

"What are those for?" Yugi asked curiously and she flushed darkly. "Oh its...ever since I was a kid, I couldn't go to sleep without listening to one of the songs my mom made before she...before I was born," Stephanie admitted playing with the cords of the earbuds, "So, my dad made a playlist for me to listen to of songs they recorded together on this so...I'd be like I'd always have her with me wherever I go."

Yugi smiled at this, "I think that's an amazing idea..." A thought occurred to him, "Hey...you said your name was Quartz- _Universe_ , right?" She nodded with a raised eyebrow, "As in Gregory Universe, as in Mr. Universe?"

"You know my dad?" She asked him in surprise, more used to this sort of thing with her mother. "Yeah, my grandpa's one of his biggest fans, we have all his songs, even the limited edition album he made with this mysterious female singer before he retired permanently," Yugi explained much to her surprise, "Next to his deck and a few personal items, they're his most precious possessions; I practically grew up listening to him sing about the galaxy and love."

"Yeah, I think that mystery singer is probably my mom," Stephanie admitted, "My aunt says that after she...I was born, he just...lost his drive, I guess...his songs just weren't the same," Yugi nodded in sympathy as she put a bud in, after a moment, she offered him the other, "Do you want to listen?"

"N-No I-I couldn't," Yugi shook his head, feeling like it would be something like intruding. "I don't mind," Stephanie assured. "They're your parents, it wouldn't..." Yugi tried to protest. "Yugi its probably one of the songs you already heard on that limited edition album," Stephanie said with a good natured roll of the eyes, "I don't think it'd be anything special."

Yugi hesitated, "Only...if you're sure..."

"I know it probably sounds weird but..." Stephanie admitted, blushing a little, "I trust you, despite only knowing you since the start of this crazy tournament; I feel like I've known you for much longer." It was the truth, it did strangely feel like she knew him more than she actually did and she couldn't put her finger on why.

Yugi blushed a little as well, "I know what you mean, I feel the same way...despite how I should be mad about the depiction..." She winced at the reminder, "I get it...despite not knowing for sure, I just...feel like you wouldn't normally do that if you had any other choice."

She shrugged and after a few seconds, he took the earbud and placed it in. They both settled into their sleeping bags shifting close to each other so they didn't strain the earbuds, blushing as they did before she pressed play.

For the first few seconds, all Yugi heard was two voices harmonizing like most of the songs in his grandfather's album and he found himself relaxing to the beautiful sound that was made, until a lovely female voice began to sing in a soft soprano voice, the type reserved especially for a mother singing to her child:

 _Remember me,_

 _Though I have to say goodbye,_

 _Remember me,_

 _Don't let it make you cry,_

Yugi felt his breath hitch with along with the singer's own, feeling his heart lurch in the realization that this was Stephanie's mother. A mother singing more than a lullaby for her daughter, but singing her goodbye in a heart-string-twisting acceptance that they would never meet.

 _For even if I'm far away,_

 _I hold you in my heart,_

 _I sing a secret song to you,_

 _Each night we are apart,_

 _Remember me~_

 _Though I have to travel far,_

 _Remember me~_

 _Every time you hear a sad guitar,_

Yugi couldn't help the watery feel in his eyes as he got up the nerve to finally look at Stephanie's face. A small part of him was a little surprised to see her eyes already closed, making him idly wonder how many times she had already listened to this. But in the faint moonlight that seeped through the tent material, he could see the tall-tail swelling of tears under her lashes.

 _Know that I'm with you the only way that I can be..._

 _Until your in my arms again~..._

Yugi went to hit the pause button at seeing the flash of pain crossing Stephanie, but was cut off guard when a male voice he recognized as Mr. Universe suddenly sang in the same gentle voice as Rose Quartz, the tone reserved for a loving father singing to his child along side his wife, making Yugi shiver at how it made his deep baritone voice sound in his ear, having never heard anything like it in any other of the man's songs:

 **Come stop your crying, it will be alright,**

 **Just take my hand and hold it tight...**

 **I will protect you from all around you,**

 **I will be here, don't you cry~**

Yugi felt like he was intruding on something very sacred and private, but at the same time, couldn't bring himself to pull the earbud out as he reached out and grasped Stephanie's fisted hand. He felt it tense under his touch before relaxing seconds later. He watched as her face slowly changed into a less pained, but still sad one, as Rose's voice began to sing in addition.

 **For one so small,** _(Oh, so small)_

 **You seem so strong,**

 **My arms will hold you,**

 **Keep you safe and warm,** (I'll keep you safe and warm)

 **This bond between us,**

 **Can't be broken,** _(It can't be broken)_

 **I will be here**

 _ **Don't you cry...**_

Then, as one, both parents sang together, once again creating melodic harmony that left Yugi entranced as he closed his eyes, gently gripping Stephanie's hand.

 _ **For you'll be in my heart,**_

 _ **Yes, you'll be in my heart,**_

 _ **From this day on,**_

 _ **Now and forever more,**_

 **Ooh,** _ooh-oh~_

 ** _Ooh~oooh~oh~_**

 **You'll be in my heart,** _(If you close your eyes and let the music play)_

 **No matter what they say,** _(Keep our love alive, I'll never fade away)_

 **You'll be in my heart,** _(If you close your eyes and let the music play)_

 **Always..** _Always..._

 ** _Always..._**

Yugi couldn't help shedding a tear at the emotion in both singers voices, wondering how long before Stephanie's birth this had been recorded. Opening his eyes once more, he couldn't help smiling at how peaceful the girl's expression became as she listened to her parents song, clearly asleep, but no longer pained.

 _ **Remember me...eee~...**_

Yugi carefully reached to turn off the MP3 player, only to blush as Stephanie curled up closer to him, fast asleep, but he relaxed when nothing else happened and enjoyed the peaceful expression on the girl's face, _'She looks beautiful when she smiles...'_ His returned full force when he realized what he was thinking, _'No. No, bad Yugi, she's asleep for crying out loud.'_

 _"One would think you're at least entitled to your thoughts,"_ Yami chuckled in amusement, secretly a little envious of his other half's position, sitting across from the two by the tent's entrance, looking a little too comfy arms crossed and one leg crossed casually over the other. _'I'd rather think them when we're both awake, thank you very much,'_ Yugi replied embarrassed, _'At least then I'd feel less like a creep.'_ His blush darkened when Stephanie moaned softly in her sleep resting her head against his shoulder and neck, her dark and light curls ticking his neck and cheek.

 _"Doesn't change the simple truth of the statement, now does it?"_ Yami teased lightly earning a pointed look from Yugi. _'Not helping,'_ Yugi stated mentally, making Yami chuckle once more before retreating back into the puzzle, making Yugi silently sigh in relief, before settling for looking up at the tent roof, letting his thoughts wonder for the first time since getting to the island, _'Why is it that the more involved I get in this whole tournament, the more it seems to be connected to the Millennium Items? First it was Pegasus with his Eye, then Stephanie with her Earrings, and now Bakura and his Ring, and of course my Puzzle,'_ With his free hand, he held onto the upside down pyramid, _'Ever since I saw the ancient puzzle, Duel Monsters has never been the same; now every time I duel I can feel Yami's presence within me, lending me his strength,'_ In his mind's eye, he saw an image of his grandfather among the stars and clouds, and his grip on his puzzle tightened a little, _'I hope with him we can save grandpa, I miss him...'_ He looked at Stephanie again, _'And Steph's family, I can't imagine how she's feeling right now; it kinda makes me wonder how she can keep smiling like she does...and how the Gems are involved in any of this.'_

He closed his eyes for a moment, only to open them again when he heard the tall-tale sounds of a helicopter approaching, prompting him to sit up in surprise, which in turn made Stephanie wake and sit up in confusion as the four Gems immediately sprung up into action at the sudden noise and approaching machine. "Huh?" Stephanie said in sleepy-confusion, rubbing her eyes also hearing the sound, "What's going on?" They crawled over to look out the tent as Jasper summoned her helmet, Bismuth changed her hands to a pair of maces, Lapis called her wings and landed next to Joey and Tristan's tent, who both slowly poked their heads out of the tent, and Peridot's gemstone glowed as she got into a battle stance.

"Huh?" Tea said confused as she poked her head out of her own tent. "Hey, some of us are tryin' tah sleep over 'ere, ya jerk!" Joey shouted over the noise as every save Jasper shielded their eyes as the helicopter light focused on them. "What the he-" Tristan started only to get a slipper to face courtesy of a half-awake Stephanie when he was about to curse in front of a still sleepy Leon. "A dragon?" Leon asked half-asleep as he and Bakura emerged from their tent.

"Who do you think it is?" Tea asked no one in particular. "We're about to find out," Lapis said tensely, turning her wings into fists as the blades slowed to a stop as the contraption landed.

The door then slide open and the person that stepped out had Peridot momentarily blinking. He was tall, like around Lapis' height with fair skin, short brown hair and sapphire-blue eyes wearing a long purple trench coat. He was lean in build, much more impressive then any human she's seen at Pink Diamond's zoo or even so far here on Earth, with an intelligent glow in his eyes that brought a very strange, but strong and not all together too unpleasant heat to her cheeks. In one had was a little device that reminded her of Stephanie's phone, but different at the same time, and in the other a briefcase.

"Its Kaiba," Yugi said stunned. "Wait, Kaiba as in, the guy that ghoul was impersonating?" Bismuth asked for clarification as she, Lapis and Jasper relaxed oh so slightly.

"As in," Lapis added, "The guy Pegasus needs to beat in order to get that company HeibaCorp, YubaCorp or whatever its called?" Joey and Tristan both snickered at her clear disinterest in the actual name and her attempts to recall it.

Tristan nodded, "One and the same, wonder what he's doing here."

"Whatevah it is," Joey commented looking at the briefcase, "He looks like he means business."

"Haven't seen you since our duel Yugi," Kaiba said in a rather neutral tone, making it hard for anyone else to tell if he was still sour about said duel or not. "Yeah," Yugi replied as he helped Stephanie up and she brushed off her dress, earning an arched brow from Kaiba, recognizing her from Pegasus' file. "Wait, Kaiba..." Stephanie said now fully awake as she looked at him, "Your Mokuba's older brother."

"You know my brother?" Kaiba asked stepping close but backed off when the four strange women moved closer as if closing ranks, but for his credit, didn't look the least bit intimidated or weirded out by their strange coloring, "How? Where is he?"

"He tried to get Yugi disqualified after stealing Leon's deck and Star Chips, nearly getting him disqualified too," Stephanie answered pushing her way from behind Jasper and Bismuth, "But he got captured by one of Pegasus' henchmen."

"Well, don't that be all," The computer voice remarked making everyone but Kaiba jump. "Who said that?" Jasper said grabbing Stephanie and pushing her behind her.

"I did," The voice came from the device in Kaiba's hand. "Who did?" Tea asked. "I did," The voice replied. "Who did?" Bakura asked confused. "I did," The voice repeated. "Who did?" Tristan and Joey asked lost. "This is getting less funny," The device remarked, which in turn made Stephanie, Yugi and Leon chuckle.

"Huh, is that supposed to be some kind of artificial intelligent, independent audio programming?" Peridot asked intrigued as she stepped up to examine the device, much to Kaiba's surprise as the strange green girl leaned in to look at the screen, "How did you manage to fit so many necessary systems and data into such a small device?"

Distracted, Kaiba actually replied, "Well, you see my company developed these new microchips and-" But stopped himself and shook his head as Stephanie giggled, "What am I saying?"

"I believe you were explain-" The voice began to answer as Kaiba brought the screen to eye-level. "Maisie; that was a rhetorical question," Kaiba cut her off. "Maisie?" Everyone asked throw for a loop by the odd name choice. "Mokuba named me," The newly named Maisie chirped making Kaiba sigh. "Excuse me," Kaiba said as he started walking towards the castle.

"Wait," Peridot said quickly getting in his path, Kaiba opened his mouth but his voice got stuck in his throat as the light green gemstone on her forehead glowed as she brought up a hand, summoning something that floated inside of luminescent yellowish-green bubble. Peridot had bubbled the entire deck as to save herself the trouble summoning over twenty individual cards after offering to hold onto it for Yugi, she popped the bubble with ease and held out the deck, "I believe these are yours."

Kaiba just stared, at a loss of what to say. Peridot scrunched up her face as she looked up at her gemstone, asking insecurely, "What? Is there something on my gemstone?"

"H-H-How did y-y-you...?" Kaiba stammered before realizing what she was offering him, "My deck; how did you get it?"

"She's been keeping it save for me ever since I defeated that impostor," Yugi informed as Kaiba hesitated for a moment before accepting the deck, "Consider it a thanks for helping me win it."

For a moment Kaiba had nothing to say, which made Maisie quip, "Wow, Seto Kaiba with nothing to say; now there's a first."

Which served to make Kaiba say in a cool, neutral voice, "Thank you, you'll both be..." His eyes lingered on Peridot's gemstone for a few seconds, "Compensated...for your troubles..." That said, he started off again.

"Kaiba, wait!" Stephanie said quickly hurrying in front of the CEO, "If you're thinking of going to Pegasus' castle, you're going to need these." She then summoned the bubbled Star Chips she had taken from Panik, drawing Kaiba's attention to her own gemstone.

"You have one too?" Kaiba asked. "I got it from my mother," Stephanie answered simply before popping the bubble and held out the chips, "You're not going to get inside without these."

"Thanks, but I won't be needing some worthless tokens to get into the castle," Kaiba stated apathetically, "Unlike you losers I don't have time to waste playing cards in your dumb tournament." He then started to walk away, but Lapis, who frowned at his attitude to Stephanie, ran up and grabbed him by the warm after returning her wings to her gemstone.

"Now you listen here you overgrown aquamarine!" Lapis snapped making him arch a brow at the Gem-culture insult, "You're not the only one here with a noble cause driving them towards that castle," She motioned with her free hand to the others, "We all have a bone to picture with that stuck up peacock; so if you want a piece of him, you're going to have to get in line, cause I already called first dibs!"

Kaiba said nothing at first as he glanced down at her hand, silently taking in her blue skin, "Nice grip," He glanced back at her, or more accurately, her odd outfit, before grabbing her wrist, "Now let me show you mine." Lapis only had time to blink in surprise before her feet left the ground with a started yelp as he swung her over his shoulder like a ragdoll and she landed on the ground on her front, revealing her pear-cabochon cut gemstone.

"Lapis!" Everyone cried in worry, Stephanie and Peridot, followed very closely by Joey and Leon, rushed to the fallen terraformer's side. "Are you alright?" Joey asked in concern as she struggled onto her hands. "Y-Yeah...I landed on my front," She replied glaring up through her bangs at Kaiba, who still wore an neutral cold look on his face.

"Here we go..." Maisie sighed and if she had a head, she'd be shaking in defeat right now. "Do you think I'm going to let some stupid tournament stop me from finding Pegasus?" Kaiba asked stoically, a hint of sarcasm and something akin to condescending in his voice.

Peridot turned a furious look on him as she growled, "Mrgrgrgr...!" She marched right up to, making Kaiba arch a brow at her skeptically and, like with Mai, she jumped up and slapped him clean across the face, to Kaiba's credit he didn't look flabbergasted like Mai did, but he did look visibly stunned, particularly from how much force was behind the hit, whilst Maisie burst out laughing.

"Forget about asteroid-flipping Pegasus!" Peridot snapped and even Jasper stepped back, "Cause now, you're dealing with _me!_ " Everyone looked surprised as she poked him in the chest with a frown, "So get out that deck and put it use, cause we're dueling; right here, right now!"

"She's cracked," Jasper stated with a sweat-drop. "Why should I bother?" Kaiba scoffed, "You should challenge someone you can actually beat, like an infant or a monkey," He then smirked, "Assuming you even know how to duel." With that he continued on his way as Peridot glared and growled after him.

"Fine, go ahead and run, coward!" She said making Kaiba stop in his tracks as she crossed her arms, ""I bet ever since you lost to Yugi you can't even play a trap card without so much as flinching!" She smirked confidently at him and for a moment, under the moonlight, Kaiba saw something he had only seen once more, a confidence he had only seen once before and it made his heart secretly pound, but he quickly shook it off.

"Peridot, now isn't that time to be insulting someone," Tristan warned her, "Even if he did lose to Yugi, he's still considered one of the top ranking duelists in the world."

But Peridot ignored him and asked, "What do you say Kaiba, care to prove me wrong?"

"One one condition; we play using my latest innovation in holographic dueling dueling technology," Kaiba stated pressing a button under Maisie's console and it ended a pair of helicopter wings, allowing her flight, "If you're so eager to duel me, you're going to do it using my latest holographic system," Hands free, he knelt down to open his briefcase, revealing two metal disks in the upper half and some folders in the bottom, "It allows the players the realism of a duel arena no matter where they are," He tossed one of the disks to Peridot, who caught it no problem, "If anything, this will make for an insightful field test."

Peridot took the time to examine the disk; it was small in size, roughly the size of a dinner plate at the very least, and as she held it flat in her hands and rose it to eye level, she could feel how light it was, practically light as a feather. As she looked at the top she saw it was indeed modeled after a duel arena console, but with only one space on top for a card or two. When she flipped it over, she found a piece that looked as if it would strap onto something, most likely her arm and the disk was attached to it by some sort of black-colored metal-looking cord and the bottom of the disk itself was a rounded point, like the spinning tops Stephanie had shown her once. One either sides of the space were thin, rectangular, black screens, mostly fore a life point screen and there were two slots.

"Hmm, light, looks durable," Peridot mused, "Seems to have the physical functions of a duel arena, but what's with the slots?" Kaiba couldn't help cracking a smile at her thoughtful expression and critical, analytical eyes, it almost looked like an art-critic examining a new portrait, something was interesting him about her and this was certainty helping things.

"Huh, a flying saucer," Joey commented after helping Lapis up. "Don't be an idiot," Kaiba said instantly losing the smile, "This is the most state of the art duel modulator ever built, so think your friend thinks she can handle it, then lets see her strap it on."

Peridot did so without hesitance and asked, "Okay, now what?"

"Insert your deck into the dueling drive recognizer," Kaiba instructed as Maisie flew over. "In translation: put your deck in the left slot," Maisie said, "A life point count will light up on the display to keep track of the match."

"Next you select the card you want to play and put it on the digital card reader," Kaiba finished as he put on the bigger disk, both duelists putting their decks in, causing the screens to light up and set the life points, "The rest should explain itself."

 **Seto LPs: 2000**

 **Peridot LPs: 2000**

Peridot couldn't help smiling, "Cool." Kaiba bristled briefly with pride before schooling his composure.

"All set?" Kaiba asked and when she nodded, he threw his disk out, "Then prepare for my Battle Ox!" It began to spin like a top and glow.

"Look at all the lights," Bakura said admiring the light show. "Its just like something from a fairy tale!" Leon said with wide-awe filled eyes.

Then, Kaiba's monster appeared. It was tall, a humanoid bovine with a dark brownish skin tone bugled with muscle wearing red armor with gold trim with a matching helmet. It held a double-edge war-ax and its eyes glowed a demonic red.

 **Battle Ox. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: BEAST-WARRIOR. Lv: 4. ATK/DEF: 1700/1000**

"More like a nightmare!" Tea shrieked frightened, hiding behind Jasper, who just scoffed. "That's a hologram?" Yugi, Bakura and Stephanie asked stunned by how life-like it was. "Yes. One of unprecedented realism; it breaths, it snarls," Kaiba stated as his monster growled, "My duel disk even simulates its oduor."

"Ick, you're telling me," Peridot agreed covering her nose, "That thing smells work then a Quartz cubby-hole," She then did a classy snap of the things, a smirk on her face, "And that's the truth." Jasper couldn't resist the snicker that escaped her at the witty quip, "But lets hope he won't stick around for long," She drew a card, "I call Elemental HERO Wildheart!"

In a similar tornado of light, Peridot's monster appeared. Like Jasper's Amazonesses, Peridot's HEROs were all organic beings, Wildheart being no exception. He was a tall human man, rugged and chiseled with tanned skin and a muscular build covered in burgundy tribal tattoos, his long black hair was pulled up in a ponytail with a creamy-tawny-colored tribal hairband and his eyes, while a warm brown much like Stephanie's, were sharper in shape and wiser. He wore a creamy-colored loincloth and brace-like sandals on his feet and cloth wrist-guards, a large sword strapped to his back.

 **Elemental HERO Wildheart. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: WARRIOR/EFFECT. Lv: 4. ATK/DEF: 1500/1600**

"Oh my...!" Tea exclaimed blushing darkly at the sight of the HERO, Stephanie was no better, not bothering to cover Leon's eyes as this wasn't a barely dressed female.

Lapis, Bismuth and Jasper shared confused looks as Joey and Tristan rolled their eyes and Yugi pouted, crossing his arms in annoyance. Within Jasper's gemstone, the spirits of her Amazonesses resided, watching the duel and several of them were blushing and giggling as well at the sight of Wildheart, well, save Amazoness Tiger, Baby Tiger and Pet Liger, the older of the two were rolling their eyes, along with Amazoness Scout and Princess.

"Go Battle Ox!" Kaiba ordered, "Ax Slam Attack!" The two monsters clashed, sword meeting ax. When they returned to their respective fields, Peridot sighed a little in relief, "At least he withstood that attack..." She yelped when Wildheart revealed to have been cleaved in two before bursting into data, "OKay...now that's realistic."

Maisie chuckled as she flew to the sidelines to observe the duel, "You don't know the half of it..." As Peridot's life points dropped.

 **Peridot LPs: 1800**

"This new technology forces players to think on their feet," Kaiba stated, "If its too much for you...Peridot, was it?" At her nod, he advised, "Then maybe you should just give up now."

"I didn't invent these disguise-creators to get here just to give up now!" Peridot fumed at him, catching her disk and drawing a card and her eyes widened, _'P-P-Polymerization...! B-B-But...th-this is...is the card that...that can...'_ Her mind flashed back to her attempt to fuse with Garnet and she shook her head, _'No, I didn't need fusion before in the physical sense and I don't need it now in this sense!'_ Out loud, as she played a different card, she called, "I call Elemental HERO Sparkman!"

Yet another organic male appeared in bright arcs of bluish electricity, his entire head covered in a sleek blue and yellow, futuristic helmet hiding his entire face and wore a matching blue spandex suit and yellow armor, a pair of cybernetic wings on his back. Once again, Jasper's Amazonesses giggled in admiration.

 **Elemental HERO Sparkman. Attribute: LIGHT. Tribe: WARRIOR. Lv: 4. ATK/DEF: 1600/1400**

"Go!" Peridot ordered and her HERO's arms lit up with electricity as he shot forth to attack. "Ah, Peridot wait!" Stephanie called out in warning, "Creatures like the Battle Ox are resilient to both fire and electrical attacks!" But she was too late as the Battle Ox grabbed Sparkman by wrist and destroyed him as well.

Peridot caught the disk as it came to at her and face palmed, " ** _Now_** someone tells me..." Her life points dropped once by three hundred points.

 **Peridot LPs: 1500**

"Why am I not surprised that you'd make such amateur mistakes? Maybe from now on you'll let Muto and his girlfriend pick all your monsters for you," Kaiba said in a cold voice as Yugi and Stephanie blushed at being called a couple, "Or better yet, why don't I show you the advanced moves of the game the hard way?" He placed two new cards onto his disc before throwing it again, "Mystic Horseman and Battle Ox, merge together to form the Rabid Horseman!" Battle Ox reappeared, a new monster by its side, an organic creature with the upper body of a human man with short blonde hair and lavender skin holding wielding a pole-ax with the lower body of a brown stallion with a platinum blonde tail.

The two then merged together to form a new creature that was basically the Battle Ox from the waist up and the Mystic Horseman from the waist down, armed with a large single-edged war ax. It reared with a roar cry as everyone else stared with wide eyes.

 **Rabid Horseman. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: BEAST-WARRIOR/FUSION. Lv: 6. ATK/DEF: 2000/1700**

"Peri don't lose your cool!" Stephanie called over. "Yeah, you can beat him!" Lapis added. "Just stay focused!" Bakura agreed.

"Alright," Peridot said placing a card on the disk, "Elemental HERO Avian, defense mode!" This HERO was also an organic male covered in jade green with dark feathers making something akin to gloves and boots over his forearms and shins, matching armor pads on his shoulders, and on the back of one hand was a brown glove with three blades attached. He wore a jade green cowl that had three prong-like extensions akin to a triceratops but without skin or cloth connecting them together and a pair of large white-feathered, green-cybernetic wings curled around him as he knelt in a defensive position.

 **Elemental HERO Avian. Attribute: WIND. Tribe: WARRIOR. Lv: 3. ATK/DEF: 1000/1000**

But Rapid Horseman charged and destroyed her wind HERO with disturbing ease, and for the next few turns, it was the same thing. Each monster she would summon be crushed to data particles by Kaiba's brute of a monster as she continued to hesitate and withhold the use of polymerization.

 _'Aw cubicles...Ocean, Blazeman, Necroshade, Stratos, Lady Heat, Bubbleman, Solid Soldier, Burstinatrix, even Bladedge and Prisma, some of my best monsters wiped out by that thing,'_ Peridot thought feeling her spirit getting crushed, _'Maybe he's right...'_ She squeezed her eyes shut, not willing to give Kaiba the satisfaction of seeing her tear up, _'What if...what if I can't beat him...?'_ Her gemstone gave the faintest glow and she suddenly felt a light touch to her shoulder, she glanced up and nearly jumped out of her skin to see the spirit of Avian by her side.

 ** _"You mustn't doubt yourself Mistress,"_** Avian 'spoke' to her, his lips moved, but it didn't sound like a normal voice in her ears, _**"Kaiba may have time and experience, as well as pride, but he lacks one crucial thing."**_

 _'What's that?'_ She asked sounding a little uncertainty. _**"Allies,"**_ Avian answered moving a wing back as he motioned to her group, making her glance over, _**"You have an entire contraband of friends who are willing to support you, despite the unnerving odds; who does he have?"**_

 _'But...but what if we're...'_ Peridot thought hesitantly as she looked the card that could be a like game turner if she just had the courage to use it, _'What if...what if I'm not...not enough...'_

Avian's face smoothed into a comforting smile as he placed a hand comfortingly and supportively on her back, and for a brief moment, he was visible to others with a gemstone, making Lapis, Bismuth, Jasper and Stephanie gasp in surprise before he faded from their sight.

 _ **"You'll never know until you try Mistress,"**_ Avian told her, _**"Sometimes you only rep life's sweetest rewards when you take a leap of faith."**_

During their mental exchange, Kaiba took Peridot's silence and hesitance as a sign of potential victory and taunted her in that unchanging cold tone, "Beginning to realize the truth yet? You never stood a chance against me," In that moment, as Peridot looked up at him, she wasn't seeing an exceptionally, beautifully intelligent human, she was seeing a cruel Agate, "Makes me wonder why you're even on this island; do you even duel or are you just one of the cheerleaders?" His smirk sparked something in her core, something that set of a duel reaction; one was a burning sensation, something that set the rest of her into a heightened overdrive, the other was a feeling she could only describe as a hardening feeling putting her senses into a fixed focus.

"Don't you dare talk to her like that!" Lapis snarled violently as Joey was forced to hold her back with much effort on his part as she struggled, "Peridot's earned her place here; she's had a lot of bumps on the journey sure, but she's overcome them every time and she's had our backs ever since!"

Peridot looked over her shoulder at her housemate and budding best friend, a watery smile of gratitude on her face. Lapis smiled back as she calmed and gave her an encouraging thumbs up.

 _'She's right; I did earn my place to be here, not just for Steph but for the other Gems too,'_ Peridot thought as her confidence steeled, _'I in this for them, not me; I stood my ground against Yellow Diamond, I **refuse** to back down to **him** ,' _As she drew a new card, a plan formed in her mind as she stared Kaiba down, unwilling to back down, _'I am enough.'_ Avian smiled as he faded away back into her gemstone.

"Fine, make your move then," Kaiba said but didn't find himself as annoyed as he usually would've been in this type of situation, so imagine Maisie's surprise when he didn't roll his eyes as she predicted him too, instead he gave the tiniest smile, "No doubt it will be another defense mode."

"Huh..." Maisie commented sounding amazed, "He's actually...encouraging her..." Jasper and Bismuth being the closest to her were the only ones to hear and it made them arch their brows.

"Not this time!" Peridot rebuffed as she placed a card, "First I play Monster Reborn to revive Sparkman!" With a golden glow and burst of electricity, the gold and blue HERO reappeared, but before Rapid Horseman could engage, Peridot pulled her disk back.

"Running already?" Kaiba teased. "No, just not done," Peridot replied setting two more cards before throwing the disk again, "I play the spell card Polymerization!" Jasper, Bismuth, Lapis and Stephanie all gasped with wide, stunned eyes as a new monster appeared next to Sparkman, resembling a golem than a man like the other HEROs with a brown body with a large chest and hands, and a red head, "Merging Elemental HERO Clayman and Sparkman together to form..." The two men ran at each other, disappearing into an invisible vortex spiral as they joined to form a new being, "Elemental HERO Thunder Giant!"

The man that appeared was certainty lived up to the 'giant' part of his name, towering intimidatingly over Rapid Horseman. His body-structure was similar to Clayman with a large chest. He was clothed in a purple bodysuit decorated with white lines out the outside of the legs, wearing a yellow chest plate with similar white linings and a blue orb in the center that was live with electricity, matching gloves and boots adorn his hands and feet with orbs on the back of the hands of the gloves but none on the boots. His upper face, like Avian, was hidden beneath a matching yellow and white helmet, large spiked shoulder pads accented his armor and four white spikes jutted almost like a cape.

 **Elemental HERO Thunder Giant. Attribute: LIGHT. Tribe: WARRIOR/FUSION/EFFECT. Lv: 6. ATK/DEF: 2400/1500**

"She did it..." Stephanie murmured in surprise, but she smiled taking it as a step in the right direction for Peridot's growth as an individual. "The twerp's actually did it..." Jasper whispered completely stunned and jaw-dropped. Bismuth was grinning widely, "Go Peridot!" Lapis just stared stunned and silent.

"And with an attack strength of twenty-four hundred your mutated pony is about to get the shock of its life," Peridot remarked as Kaiba stared up at the giant with wide, stunned eyes, "Voltic Thunder!" Her giant pounded its fists together and they came to life with electricity before he charged at Rapid Horseman and slammed one charged fist into its gut, making shriek as it was electrocuted, prompting Stephanie to pull Leon close and turn using her dress to shield both his eyes from intense light created and from the graphics as everyone else shielded their eyes as well save for the other Gems.

When the light died, Rapid Horseman was nothing but data retreating into the disk as Kaiba's life points dropped.

 **Kaiba LPs: 1600**

"Alright!" Joey cheered. "Go Peridot!" Leon cheered as well as Stephanie released her hold.

"Hn, so you made a good move, I suppose even amateurs can get lucky," Kaiba commented with an idle tone, that small smile returning for a moment, "But even your giant pales in comparison to my next beast."

Peridot's eyes narrowed int thought before widening in realization, _'He...He can't mean...'_

Kaiba simply set his next card before throwing his disk with a dramatic call, "I summon the Blue Eyes White Dragon!" Peridot stared up at the magnificent white beast as it spread its wings and released a mighty roar.

Tristan, taking one out of the green Gems book, panicked, "This is bad, this is bad, this is bad, this is bad!"

Kaiba then called the anticipated and dreaded attack, "White Lightning!" Blue Eyes tilted its head back before launching its signature attack, reducing Thunder Giant to nothing in a matter of seconds.

 _'Ah asteroids...'_ Peridot thought as her life points dropped past the mid-point, _'I thought I could win before he could summon one of those dragons.'_

 **Peridot LPs: 900**

"Don't you dare think about giving up now Peridot!" Bismuth shouted at the second smallest member of her original group, "Just cause he summoned one of those White Court lizards doesn't mean he's won just yet!"

 _'White Court?'_ The humans and sole hybrid thought confused. "You people just don't know how to quit, don't you?" Kaiba remarked, "Its obvious you're no match for me."

A stubborn stare down from a pair of molten silver was his response as she shot back, "A duel isn't over until the last card is played Kaiba," She drew her next card and her eyes widened, "Well Kaiba, since you summon your strongest monster its only fair I do the same, allow me to introduce Elemental Hero Neos!"

When she threw her disk, a tornado of silvery blue swirls and twinkling pink and purple star-like lights, giving her new monster a truly otherworldly entrance as he appeared from the disk, striking a battle-ready pose. He could only be described as a tall, muscular man decked head-to-toe in a silver body suit decorated with red line-markings, matching triangles on the chest around a blue orb, his cowl ended in a long blade or fin-like point with a navy blue streak running up the front of it, matching the patch on his suit's neck. His suit had noticeable shoulder pads that looked like armor, a pair of fin-like blades jutted from his elbows and his gloves were a charcoal gray, matching his boots.

 **Elemental HERO Neos. Attribute: LIGHT. Tribe: WARRIOR. Lv: 7. ATK/DEF: 2500/2000**

"Wow..." Tristan, Yugi, Joey and Leon breathed in awe of the space hero. "Amazing..." Tea added also awed. "Why am I not surprised?" Stephanie questioned herself in regard to Neos' alien-related appearance.

"I equipped him with the spell card Mage Power!" Peridot continued as Neos glowed a brilliant orange, "Increasing his attack and defense by five hundred points each!"

 **Elemental HERO Neos. ATK/DEF: 3000/2500**

"Now attack!" Peridot order, "Cosmic Crush!" Neos launched himself at Kaiba's Blue Eyes who roared irritably, most likely knowing how this match was going to end.

In a sequence worth of a martial arts movie, Neos landed a strong kick to Blue Eyes' side before delivering a karate chop to its neck, but was unable to dodge a fierce swipe of the dragon's vengeful claws, both bursting into datta. Neither duelist lost a single point.

"Wow, they wiped each other out," Tristan said in shock as everyone continued to watch, Maisie included. Maisie paid the most attention to her master and his opponent's expressions; despite the determination being born from frustration and anger, and the taunts meant to cynical and callous, down right cruel even, both were smiling, correction: both duelists were giving each other small exhilarated grins. "He's...having...fun..." Maisie said to herself sounding somewhat stunned.

And it was true, despite his initial annoyance in the beginning, Kaiba, for the first time in quite a while, was genuinely having fun while he was dueling. Peridot's persistence, her unwillingness to quit, her sheer determination; it wasn't grating on his nerves like such displays normally would've from someone else. Perhaps it was her obvious high level intelligence, maybe it was her genuine interest in Maisie and in his disks, it could've also been her rather refreshing wit and the fact she had tied with one of his Blue Eyes. Kaiba honestly didn't know, but, for a moment, he truly didn't want the duel to end, he wanted to keep it going, to stretch it on for as long as it could go, to see more of what she could do and how she could test him. For the first time since earning title of World Champion, Kaiba felt...excited and challenged.

Peridot, for all her frustration, was also secretly having a blast. She couldn't remember having so much fun before once she actually discovered the feeling. Not even Stephanie's best efforts could rally this sort of sensation. It was like she was running on adrenaline, every little nerve within her form was alive and she knew her gemstone was glowing from her excitement. She just couldn't help it, she just had to prove herself. She also didn't want the duel to end. She also wanted to stretch it out, to see not just what she was capable of, but to see what Kaiba would do. For the first time since her little competition with Pearl, she felt challenged and she loved it.

"Hn..." Kaiba breathed as they both breathed deeply through their noses, eyes meeting in an unyielding stare off, grins unwavering, "Not bad..." He caught his disk as did she as he added, "For a rookie..."

Peridot practically sighed in her excitement for the next turn, "Thanks."

Yugi and Stephanie shared a look at the exchange, as did Bismuth and Jasper. Both Quartzes shrugged. Why did the four suddenly feel like there was a lot more to it then was said?

"Now," Kaiba grinned as he set a new card, before throwing his disk, "Lets see how you handle my Swordstalker!"

The monster appeared with wisps of dark fire. It was tall, clearly male, with a muscular build with deep purple skin with a big mouth full of teeth and white eyes, having bat-like wing appendages for ears. It wore a tattered red cape, a loincloth and leather boots, wielding a crooked-bladed sword.

 **Swordstalker. Attribute: DARK. Tribe: WARRIOR. Lv: 6. ATK/DEF: 2000/1600**

"Yikes!" Tea said with wide eyes, "That monster looks like he means business!"

Leon yelped in fright, instinctively clinging to Lapis' skirt, "Scary!" Lapis looked down at him and ran her fingers reassuringly through his hair as she had seen Garnet do with Stephanie.

"While my Swordstalker is powerful on his own," Kaiba said as ghostly wisps began to float out of his graveyard slot, "His special ability allows him to summon the soul of monster in my graveyard that was just destroyed and gain a forth of its attack points." He smirked, clearly seeing her doing the calculations in her head as the wisps wrapped themselves around his Swordstalker's sword before disappearing into it, raising its attack points.

 **Swordstalker. ATK/DEF: 2750/1600**

 _'Ah_ _asteroids craters,'_ Peridot thought, _'Even from the graveyard Kaiba's Blue Eyes is still causing trouble,'_ She drew her next card and her eyes widened for a moment as an idea crossed her mind, before mentally shrugging, _'I've already used polymerization, why stop there?'_

"Play your last card Peridot," Kaiba goaded her, "No need for this duel to last all night."

"I'm not stalling Kaiba, and don't worry, I don't think its going to last all that much later," Peridot stated placing a set of cards on the disk before tossing it, "This combo is going to end this entire duel for me, I summon Elemental HERO Shadow Mist!"

Her new monster was another organic, only this one was female of a slender, long-limb build with pale grayish skin, red eyes and long blue hair. She was dressed head-to-toe in black armor styled in a two piece over top a full body dark gray bodysuit with black armor gloves and boots, and a dark blue loincloth skirt.

 **Elemental HERO Shadow Mist. Attribute: DARK. Tribe: WARRIOR/EFFECT. Lv: 4. ATK/DEF: 1000/1500**

"And how is this weakling supposed to do anything?" Kaiba asked. "Just watch as she pulls off a little surprise with Miracle Fusion!" Peridot exclaimed as red and blue spirals of light rose up from the disk around Shadow Mist, "Fusing her with Elemental HERO Necroshade from the graveyard!"

The lights expanded as a second creature appeared resembling a red and black organic male with a somewhat fiendish appearance with clawed hands and bone-like armor.

 **Elemental HERO Necroshade. Attribute: DARK. Tribe: WARRIOR/EFFECT. Lv: 5. ATK/DEF: 1600/1800**

The lights turned dark gray and black as they compressed on the two HEROs and merged them together, slowly forming one new being as everyone watched and Peridot continued, "Together, as two DARK type monsters, they form Elemental HERO Escuridao!"

When the light faded, it revealed a tall organic figure clad in sharp, mineral-like black armor that shone in the moonlight. Its figure was skinny, unnaturally so with a tiny abdomen and chunky torso. Its helmet covered most its face and had three spikes atop and its hands ended in sharp gleaming claws, one of which had three extra, larger blades on the upper side, and it had a pair of strange black wing-like appendages growing from its back, two sticking upward and looked a little like branches covered in tar and the lower ones looked a little like devil tails.

 **Elemental HERO Escuridao. Attribute: DARK. Tribe: WARRIOR/FUSION/EFFECT. Lv: 8. ATK/DEF: 2500/2000**

"Wow!" Stephanie, Tea, Joey, Lapis and Leon gasped in awe. "Amazing..." Jasper admitted also stunned by the monster that Peridot was able to summon. "Did you guys know she had a monster like that?" Tristan asked Bismuth, who shook her head in response. "Nope, none what so ever," Bismuth answered, before smirking, "But I get the feeling its about to kick some megaton butt!"

"And how is it suppose to do that?" Kaiba questioned genuinely curious, "Her monster is still weaker than my Swordstalker," He narrowed his eyes a little and tilted his head questioningly, "Is this suppose to be some kind of a bluff? Cause I'm not buying it." So imagine his surprise when the spirits of all the HEROs he had defeated in previous turns began to appear behind Escuridao, who crossed his arms and bowed his head, and upon narrowing his eyes, Kaiba saw its mouth moving as if in prayer or chanting.

"Your Swordstalker isn't the only one with the ability to draw upon assistance from fallen allies," Peridot stated, "Escuridao does too, only it doesn't focus on just one; for every Elemental HERO in my graveyard; Wildheart, Sparkman, Avian, _all_ of them, he gains one hundred attack points _each_." Each fallen warrior turned into balls of light and began to gather into Escuridao, creating the illusion of being a lit with bluish-gray flames.

"All of them?" Kaiba asked in shock doing the math in his head and his eyes widened in alarm, "B-Bu-But...that means..."

"That he gains fifteen hundred attack points," Peridot finished as her HERO's attack grew, "Your Swordstalker is finished and so are you, because with his second ability, Escuridao cancels your Swordstalker's ability in favor of his own." The fire-like energy wrapped itself around Kaiba's Swordstalker, making it growl as its own power decreased.

 **Elemental HERO Escuridao. ATK/DEF: 4000/2000**

 **Swordstalker. ATK/DEF: 2000/1600**

"Go!" Peridot ordered, "Dark Crush attack!" Escuridao brought his double-clawed hand above his head as it glowed with dark energy before charging with breakneck speed at Kaiba's monster, causing the disks to clash as it raked its claw across Swordstalker's torso full force in a single, clean downward slash, destroying it and depleting the rest of Kaiba's life points in the same fatal swoop.

 **Kaiba LPs: 0**

"N-No way..." Kaiba said in shock dropping his cards as his disk toppled over from the force of the collision while Peridot caught her as he dropped to his knees from his shock, "I...I...lo-lost...to a literal newbie..."

Peridot just giggled and gave him a peace sign and said, "And that's game!"

Lapis, Stephanie, Leon and Bismuth all cheered loudly, whilst Jasper smiled as they rushed to congratulate the little technician for her first win. The teens however, were understandably stunned, while yes, Peridot did have her struggles, she still managed to defeat Seto Kaiba, something even Yugi, a somewhat seasoned duelist prior to his own first duel with Kaiba, had trouble to pull off and even then, he hadn't used effects and cards to strengthen his monsters attack points to trump Kaiba, he had bidden time for him to summon his grandfather's unstoppable Exodia.

"He...lost..." Maisie said sounding dumbfounded and relatively calm as she finished recording the duel.

"I don't...believe it..." Tea said in her shock. "Peridot...defeated Kaiba...in her first ever duel..." Tristan added.

Joey suddenly snortled with a devious grin as he asked, "Wanna know what I just realized?"

"What that your short half a brain?" Tea teased, "Already knew that, thanks."

Joey's response was to stick out his tongue childishly before continuing, "Kaiba just lost tah a literal space roc' alien that had no clue about Duel Monstahs until literally the day 'fer yesterday." As the sentence set in, even Yugi was fighting a little smile and chuckle.

"Yeah..." Tristan said, "So not the one breaking that to him."

Tea shook her head in agreement, "Ne neither."

"I'm not telling him," Yugi put up his hands, "He already hates me enough as it is." Joey rolled his eyes but made no move to tell the big-shot CEO either.

"I guess even our other-worldly friends are more skilled then we were lead to believe," Bakura pipped in giving both brunettes a start, having more or less forgotten he was there. Yugi chuckled in agreement before finally walking over to congratulate the clearly proud of herself green Gem, "Nice work Peridot." Who smiled back happily.

She then walked over to Kaiba and held out the disk for him to take, "Here you go Kaiba, that was a pretty close duel," Kaiba looked at her as he got back up, "I would really like to do that again some time." Kaiba just stared at her long and hard for a good moment as she smiled sincerely up at him, disk still held out, before he finally took.

But as he did and Maisie flew over, Peridot could've sworn she saw a little smile cross his face as he replied, "Perhaps we will..." But it was gone as soon as she blinked, "But I wouldn't get your hopes up," As he put the disk back, Peridot's face contorted into a frown as he made an excuse, "You only won because I had my mind on other important matters than a silly little duel," As she crossed her arms unimpressedly, he held up his arm for Maisie to reform into her non-flying form and reattach to his wrist, "Next time, I will not be so distracted."

"I sure hope not," Peridot replied as a smile slowly stretched across her face, eyes lowering to half-mast, "If that was what you can do distracted, I just can't wait to see what your capable of with a perfectly focused mindset." Kaiba blinked at her, before smirking at the subtle challenge as he held her gaze and once again, the others felt oddly forgotten and out of place.

Peridot then lost the playfulness in her expression as she then changed the topic, "But seriously Kaiba, we weren't trying to waste your time trying to warn you about Pegasus; he's more dangerous then Jasper." She jutted her thumb over her shoulder at the quartz soldier, who grunted.

"Somehow I doubt that," Maisie commented dryly, a picture of the quartz and tournament host appearing on her screen.

"But he is dangerous Kaiba; his Millennium Eye, I don't know how exactly, but it lets him see the cards his opponent has in their hands," Stephanie explained as she stepped forward and Kaiba took in that she too had a gemstone embedded into her body just like Peridot and the other Gems, but made no comment of it, "What strategies they're thinking; you can't beat him normally."

"We know," Kaiba replied, "I was at the Intercontinental Championships in New York with Maisie some time ago, testing her beginning features out; there we saw Pegasus facing off against some guy called Bandit Keith," Kaiba then looked a bit perplexed and mildly disturbed, "Near the end of the duel, Pegasus stood up and called a young boy from the audience."

"Who literally just started playing Duel Monsters himself just a week prior to this, mind you," Maisie pipped in, screening flashing with colors as she spoke, "And keep in mind Bandit was and still is no push over."

Kaiba nodded to her words before continuing, "And Pegasus gave him instructions and told him to follow them."

"Wow, I bet this Bandit Keith fella didn't like that very much," Tristan remarked with a wince. "He didn't," Maisie and Kaiba both answered in blunt voices.

"But he just thought Pegasus was bluffing and continued to duel against the kid," Maisie continued the story. "When Keith summoned Garnecia Elefantis, it was what happened next that shocked everyone," Kaiba took over, "The kid followed Pegasus' instructions and summoned Flying Elephant, winning the duel." Everyone, even Jasper, was shocked to say the least.

"No way," Tea said stunned, "There has to be some mistake."

"What your saying is impossible," Lapis said in disbelief, "I'm no expert with numbers like Peridot, but even I know that the chances of Pegasus knowing that this Bandit whatshisname-"

"Bandit Keith," Kaiba and Maisie said together. "Whatever," Lapis said dismissively before continuing her point, "Would play that pacific card...is next to impossible!"

"Yeah, I mean, how could Pegasus know that the guy even had that card in his deck?" Peridot said stroking her chin in thought, a perplexed look on her face, before asking Kaiba, "I mean, is it a card he normally uses?"

"No," Maisie answered before Kaiba could open his mouth, ignoring the pointed look her master shot her, "Bandit Keith has been known to use a deck consisting of majorly machine-type monsters with a few fiends and maybe a dragon or warrior here and there."

"But he just won it in a separate tournament," Kaiba added in an afterthought, "So I guess he added it for showboating."

Bismuth still looked a little weirded out, "Yeah, but how could Pegasus have known that?" Kaiba and Maisie remind silent, not having an answer.

' _'That sounds an awful lot like what happened with me when I dueled Pegasus,'_ Stephanie noticed thinking back to her duel with the silver-haired kidnapper and how he seemed to be able to predict her moves before she even made them herself, and as she glanced at Yugi, she could tell he was thinking something similar.

"You can all stay and play in his little tournament until you have enough Star Chips all you lot want," Kaiba said turning on his heel, "But I'm not waiting or letting anything stop me from getting my hands on Pegasus or saving Mokuba." With that he walked off, Stephanie watched him leave with understanding-sympathy in her eyes, knowing that if she were capable, she'd be doing the same thing.

"Hey guys," Bakura called once again poking his head out of his tent, "Where did Leon go?"

"Leon?" Lapis was immediately alert after looking in the tent to see the boy's sleeping bag gone. "Leon!" Joey called instantly worried for the tyke.

"Leon!" Yugi called before looking inside his and Stephanie's tent and blinked before calling, "Found him!"

Surprised, Stephanie came over and poked her head in and sure enough, there was Leon, sleeping bag and all, somehow wedged between her strawberry-pink sleeping bag and Yugi's deep mauve purple one passed out and snoring peacefully as if there hadn't been a big duel just mere minutes prior.

"Did he really drag his sleeping bag over here while Peridot and Kaiba were dueling?" Stephanie questioned skeptically, wondering how no one noticed till now, Yugi could only shrug.

At this moment, Lapis and Joey poked their heads in to see Leon was perfectly fine, much to Lapis' relief, though Joey couldn't help quipping as she retreated, "He sure does like you two, huh?" Before yelping when Lapis dragged him away by the collar as the two shorter teens flushed.

Straightening, Stephanie and Yugi shared a look, but shrugged and climbed back into their tents as everyone else settled back down to catch some more sleep, as did Lapis, Peridot and Bismuth, Jasper having insisted on first watch. Stephanie had her earbuds back in to listen to the rest of her parents' playlist, resting one arm almost protectively over Leon as she slept, while Yugi had draped his arm over the both of them, hand resting on the small of Stephanie's back as Leon remained between them, smiling in his sleep, wondering what strange new things were going to be thrown at them tomorrow.

* * *

 **And done! Okay, this chapter may have been a _little_ lengthy but cut me some slack I work with what I'm given and I really had to brainstorm for a Peridot duel and as much as I like Kaiba VS Joey, I did not like how their Duelist Kingdom duel ended, they will duel in the future, just not on Duelist Kingdom. Also, I didn't like how Kaiba came to the island completely alone with only those disks, you'd think with so much intelligence it would've crossed his mind to bring some kind of tech if anything to defend himself, so I gave him Maisie, that computer voice from the secret room he was in during the whole Ghoul Impostor thing, just thought it'd make an interesting twist.**

 **Oh and what did you guys think of Greg and Rose's song? A mashup of Remember Me from Disney's Coco (one of my favorites in the newer collection) and You'll be in my Heart from Disney's Tarzan (another of my favorites from the older) inspired to me by the mashup on Youtube by Scott & Ryceejo as a collab with The Hound and the Fox. Hope you guys like it, I can just see Steven/Stephanie having a playlist of songs his/her mother made so they can't forget her voice**

 **And it seems that Leon is getting a little attached to Steph and Yugi, hmm.**

 **Also, what do you of Peridot's first duel, all her monsters are cannon Elemental HEROs...and Masked HEROs, can't remember which is which, and she's starting to conquer her hesitance of fusion.**

 **Also, fun little spoiler, Lapis may or may not be dueling next!**

 **Now, on to those unofficial polls!**

 **First, should Stephanie get an Egyptian God Card?**

 **Well, right now that poll has officially been tipped to a 3 for no and 2 for yes, but we're still a ways away from any of that can of worms.**

 **Now, which God Card should Stephanie get should she get one?**

 **Welp, Big Bad Blue Obelisk is still in the lead for that a big solid 2 votes, which Slifer and Ra are still both a a big fat 0. Huh, guess a lot of people like Stephanie/Steven with blue characters, huh? Kidding!**

 **And finally, should Yugi keep his title as King or should Stephanie claim the title of Queen?**

 **For that one, its seems a lot of people are all for Yugi keeping his cannon title as King of Games with Stephanie as his fair Princess in a big solid 5 to 2.**

 **If you want to vote just place your vote in with your review and I'll tally it in the next chapter.**

 **Until then everyone, keep writing and reading!**


	15. Chapter 15

**In fear of sounding like a broken record: I do not own Steven Universe or any of its original characters nor do I own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of its original characters, I can say, however, that I do own Stephanie, her yami and all OCs I chose to make, including original Crystal Beasts, i.e. Bismuth Beaver, and other original cards. If I _did_ own Steven Universe, trust me, things would've been a lot different and if I own Yu-Gi-Oh there would've been a way for Atem to stay and have all his memories.**

 **So last time, Kaiba has met the group and Peridot has participated in her first duel and won!**

 **I also included a off-screen Rose/Pink & Greg duet of sorts, hoped you guys enjoyed that!**

 **Now for the viewer replies:**

 **Wolffang1795: You're welcome! Its the simple truth! I promise things will ramp up in a little bit and I hope you continue to enjoy this story, I must admit the zombie duel is one of my favorites, if anything for the victory for Joey, if its not in this chapter, it'll be in the next one.**

 **Crow-DarkHeart: There isn't an official poll that would be at the top of my author page, its all done over posting your views and I tally them up at the ending author note, since there's three at once for the same story it didn't strike me as sensible to make them actual polls and try to shift between them at an okay pace so they'd get votes, if that makes sense and as for Diamond Cards...well...that would be telling, now wouldn't? Lol! ;P!**

 **Lady Twilight Prime: I just want to start this out as, I love your author name, it has this mystic to it, to put it simply, and again, I'm glad to see others share my sentaments with keeping most things how they are if not for continuity's sakes then for the plot and for certain character's cemetency. Again, for the Diamonds' card counter-parts and the cards I was thinking about having Stephanie collect...well, again, that would be telling, now wouldn't it? ;P! Lol! I hope you like this chapter too.**

 **Oh and before I forget, I'm upgrading the rating for this because things down the road are going to get a bit dark, just fair warning. Also, to clarify, I do not, under any circumances write anything dark or graphic because I have a morbid fasication with such themes, I only write them to give my stories an air of realism as, I'm sure anyone whose watched TV shows like Criminal Minds or Law 7 Order or even CSI knows that not everything in life is butterflies, rainbows and sunshine. Just putting that out there cause one character, not saying who, in this chapter, gets...handsy, lets say. Don't like, then don't read, just saying.**

 **Whelp, with that out of the way, enjoy the chapter everybody!**

* * *

Within the glen-like clearing the group had chosen to hanker down for the night, the humans and hybrid had all settled down for much needed sleep in their tents. While taking turns watching for possible danger or some underhanded trick Pegasus might pull, Lapis would snooze lightly in the branches she had settled in, while Bismuth would try to sleep on her log and Jasper likewise against her chosen tree, and Peridot would contently sleep in her makeshift bed of bundled up long grass, or watch the stars often letting their thoughts wonder to the Diamonds and Homeworld. Lapis was finding it hard to try to sleep despite normally finding tree branches comfortable to rest in, just when she would finish shifting, thinking she found a comfortable position to drift off in and close her eyes, Joey's smiling face would pop into her mind, followed by Mai's teasing words and she would remember how Joey's hand felt in hers, how warm and surprisingly soft it felt, and her face would heat up as she squirmed, before waking up and doing the whole process over again.

It was really starting to irritate her, how she couldn't get either blonde out of her head. Eventually, she gave up trying to sleep and stared up at the starry sky with a small sense of defeat as continue to think about Mai's words. _'Why am I letting some human's words get to me?'_ Lapis wondered confused, _'I mean, it was nice and kinda funny to see how flustered Joey would get whenever he'd hold my hand and try to talk and not sound like a fluster Ruby, but...I don't like him...not like how I like Peridot or Steph...'_ She softly groaned, covering her face with her hands in frustration, idly wondering, _'Is this how Rose Quartz felt around Greg?'_ She knew what romance was, having seen enough from manga and anime that she and Peridot would bond over and talking with Stephanie and Garnet enough to understand it in general, but she didn't know how it honestly felt. She knew family love, after all, she loved her Garden Sisters, she loved Stephanie, but romance was different and she didn't have anything to fittingly compare with.

Frustrated, she flopped around onto her front and buried her face into the leaves. When did things get so complicated in her existence?

Down below in her shared tent with Yugi and Leon, Stephanie shifted slight in her sleep, but for once didn't mind hop. Instead, she was having a...considerably odd, even for her, dream.

 _0000 Dream 000_

 _Stephanie shook her head wary of what she'd find when she opened her eyes, but begrudgingly opened them and was surprised to find herself standing in a room that didn't look the least bit Homeworld or Gem related. It was made entirely of sandstone and appeared to be fancy as far as the decor portrayed; beautiful ceramic pots potted around the corners of the rooms filled with beautiful white and purple flowers she recognized as jasmines and cornflowers, giving a rather nice splash of color to the room. The bed was made of what looked to be sturdy with legs carved to look like lions, the foot board was richly decorated with a scene of a river with an odd-looking boat sailing down it, but oddly there was no pillow, despite the fancy and beautifully simply canopy fastened overhead with fine silk curtains dyed with a pale blue. There similar couches and chairs thrown around sparse and comfortably, all made of the same fine wood and painted in a color that made it look golden with pictures of varying animals and symbols, and just across from her was the open doorway to what appeared to be a balcony, framed by more fine pale blue curtains. A fine desk was seated directly across from the bed along with a bookshelf of sorts and at the end of the bed was a fine wooden box with a fancy arched-lid decorated similarly to the rest of the furniture._

 _What caught Stephanie's attention rather quickly was the figure who entered the room via the balcony. The figure was a beautiful, if a bit on the petite side, woman of fair skin and a slightly stockish build, but maintained an attractive hourglass-figure draped in a long, loose silk dress that was an off-white bluish color with small gold circular brooches pinning the shoulders together, leaving her shoulders and arms bare save for the simple white-gold wrist and armbands she wore that were stunned with oval-shaped black stones, while she wore a blue beaded necklace with an Eye of Horus pendant, shoes that appeared to be made from rich leather and white silk adorned her feet and she wore Stephanie's earrings. What was the most eye-catching was her head of fluffy two-toned black and pink hair, which was long enough to brush a little passed her shoulders and her deep pink eyes._

 _"Wow...!" Stephanie whispered in awe stars in her eyes for a brief moment as she fawned over the woman's beauty, "Who...who is...who is she? She looks..." She brought a hand to her head glancing at a pink strand of her own hair, "Like me..."_

 _They both heard a knock at the door and turned their heads as a man who bore a rather disturbing resemblance to Yugi entered the room. He was taller, tall as the woman, with bronze-tanned skin and black make-up lining his eyes, which were a soul-bearing, and piercing, blood red color, his gold bangs making them pop out more. He too wore gold earrings as well as the Millennium Puzzle, only it hung from a leather necklace rather than a chain, and a gold head ring strapped around his head beneath his bangs with the Eye of Horus on the front. What made Stephanie blush was the fact he was shirtless, while the woman didn't seem to bat an eye, and like the woman he wore arm bands and thick bracelets, only his were stunned with red gemstones of a dark hue. He wore rather simple and slightly baggy cream pants that were held by a leather belt and a pair of leather sandals. His only other accessory was a full-length deep red cape that was held with a small pearl-beaded chain and pins around his neck._

 _Needless to say, it was like looking at older versions of herself and Yugi. Well, older versions if she were perfectly human and didn't have a gemstone, and Yugi had bronze skin and red eyes, and they had stepped back in time._

 _The woman simply fixed the man with a stare that was a mix of amusement, skepticism and something Stephanie couldn't quite place as he approached her, one hand hidden behind his back and she simply crossed her arms. The man just smiled at her before revealing what he was hiding, which turned out to be a single flower: a beautiful white chrysanthemum flower._

 _The woman and Stephanie both gasped in surprise. This time, it was the woman's turn to blush as the man leaned in to gentle place the flower in her hair, creating a lovely contrast against her two-toned hair. Her blush intensified as the man slowly trailed his fingers gently and lovingly through her long pink locks only to change his course and slid them under her chin. He smiled lovingly at her before pressing his lips to hers in a kiss._

 _Stephanie gasped once more, her own face burning in a deep blush as her eyes widened in surprise, once again starry-eyed._

 _0000 End Dream 0000_

"Step...Stephanie..." A voice cut into her void of a mind, "Time to wake up," Stephanie groaned as she opened her eyes to see the real Yugi, pale skin and purple eyes, looking at her with a tiny smile, "Morning."

"Morning," Stephanie replied stretching and yawning, her gemstone glinting as it caught light as she sat up, but then she noticed the lack of a third party, "Where's Leon?" Yugi shrugged.

Both crawled out of their tent to see the others already bundling theirs. "Morning you two!" Tea chirped as Jasper took her tent bundle. "Morning guys," Yugi greeted before looking around as Bismuth began bundling his and Stephanie's tent, "Where's Mai?"

Stephanie glanced around as well, adding, "And Leon."

"They left," Lapis answered not looking all too pleased, "But they left this note." She turned around and summoned the note from her gemstone for Stephanie to grab.

" _'I owe you eight Star Chips, see you around, Mai,'_ " Stephanie read aloud the signature was punctuated by a little blue butterfly stamp of some sort. "Kiss those Star Chips goodbye," Tristan commented as he read over Stephanie's shoulders. "I don't think so," Yugi rebuffed, "I think we can trust her."

Stephanie then turned the note around to find an additional message written in different ink and handwriting, and continued to read aloud, " _'Miss Rainbow says there's strength in numbers so I went with Miss Queenie so she won't get jumped again, Leon.'_ " The signature was also punctuated with a fleur-de-lis symbol. "Queenie?" Tea echoed. "Must be Mai," Stephanie shrugged.

"Give the pebble points for consideration," Bismuth commented with a smile as Stephanie stored the tents once more, including Yugi's, along with the note.

"I say its time we get goin'," Joey said after finishing helping Bakura with the fire-pit, "We got Star Chips to win 'n' I got the feelin' some of 'em have mah name on 'em!"

Seeing the confused look on Bismuth's face as the blacksmith started to open her mouth, Stephanie cut her off, "Its an expression Bismuth." The periwinkle blue Gem made an 'o' expression in understanding.

"Should you guys go back into your disguises?" Bakura asked seeing as the daylight made the truth about the Gems even more glaringly obvious, "I mean, I don't know about Beach City, but I'm pretty sure the rest of the duelists here won't take to Gems so kindly." All four shared a look as Stephanie tied her sash back on over her own gemstone before pressing the little buttons on their bracelets and Jazmin Yamazaki, Itzel Hao, Akira Oshiro and Liliya Mizushima were once again in existence.

"First sign of trouble, all bets are off though," Jazmin stated as she adjusted her mask to keep her gemstone hidden, despite how the fabric felt against the stone, "Since we don't have to worry about you lot."

Bakura shrugged, "No complaints." This over with, they headed off further into the woods, after a time of silence, he wondered aloud, "I wonder how many duelists are left."

"They did ship a dozen home yesterday," Joey remarked. "And I bet plenty more have been eliminated since then," Tea added.

"Probably, I mean, those eliminators must have some pretty powerful cards if Panick was any indication," Yugi agreed thoughtfully, making Jazmin grunt at the reminder of her first duel, "Who knows, we could be next."

"I wouldn't go talking like that Yugi," Itzel said, "They were only here for the glory and have no sense of true honor whatsoever."

"You, Joey and Stephanie all having something way more important that you're fighting for," Tristan agreed sincerely, making the three duelists nod as they thought about their respective reasons for being in the tournament. "That's true," Yugi answered, "I have to rescue Grandpa from Pegasus and Joey needs to win the prize money for his sister."

"And I have more than one person to worry about," Stephanie added clutching her locket, "I have to rescue my dad and the Crystal Gems," She then sighed, "To top it all off, the duelists we face today will even stronger, because they survived the first round."

Her words made Joey freeze, which made Liliya bump into him from behind as he asked nervously, "Even stronger?"

"Watch what you say Steph," Tristan chuckled, "You've got little Joey shaking in his sneakers." It was meant as a joke to lighten the mood, but it only served to make Joey whirl around to glare angrily at the slightly taller male.

"What?" Joey demanded furiously, giving Tristan a slight shove as everyone stopped to watch them, "You think I'm a scared little puppy dog?"

This threw the four Gems for a confused look as Akira questioned, "Puppy dog?" The other three just shrugged before all four turned to Stephanie, who also shrugged.

"Well if the collar fits!" Tristan retorted grabbing Joey's blazer collar in an act of aggression, which made Stephanie worry, especially once she saw the annoyed look on Jasper's face. But before the quartz could do something to possibly seriously injure the two, Lapis, who was still behind the two, incepted by chuffing the two teens upside the heads, hard, making them wince, holding the now bruising sides of their heads.

"Geez, watch it will ya?" Joey complained. "Yeah, for a danity looking Gem you sure hit pretty hard," Tristan added actually bringing his hand to his face to check for blood, Itzel patted the brunette's shoulder in comfort.

Liliya just put her hands on her hips as she retorted, "And don't either of you ever forget it!"

"Bring on the duelists!" Joey said confidently as he started punching the air, psycing himself up for his next duel, "And I'll cream 'em!" It was a little childish and very funny, and it brought smiles to everyone else's faces.

"Right," Yugi told his best friend with a smile, "You just need to believe in yourself Joey." However, none of them were aware that they were being watched from up on a cliff.

"Because nobody else will," A boy with pale skin and spiky lavender hair commented onto the conversation they had evasdropped on, before saying with a chuckle, "I want that one."

"If you like them small, skinny and stupid Bonz, he's all yours," The taller, more muscled figure, who held the binoculars, told the boy. "Oh yeah, you'll demolish him," The other figure, who had glasses, red hair and had a British accent, said before focusing on the other two with Dueling Gloves, "So, who are they anyways?"

"Let me see Sid, I don't recognize the tall one," The one with the binoculars said as he continued to watch the three duelists, "But the short one is Yugi Muto, the one who defeat Seto Kaiba, and from what I've heard around the island, that girl is the one who defeated Mai Valentine with these Crystal Beast cards, I think she calls herself Pinkamena Diamonde."

"I think we better tell the boss about this Zygor," Sid told him and he nodded, before all three took off, but the sudden resussling cause Jazmin's ears, but when she turned to look, she saw nothing out of the oridinary.

The three were soon standing in front of a tall, fit man with blonde hair wearing a bandanna styled after the American flag and shades. He also wore a red shirt under a black leather vest, dark jeans and boots.

"So, you said you found three duelists, huh?" The man questioned. "Yeah, Yugi Muto, that mysterious rich chick Pinkamena Diamonde, and this nobody punk named Joey Wheeler," Zygor told him.

"Alright, we take the dweeb Wheeler out first," The man stated after a moment's thought, "Then, I take out Diamonde."

"Are you sure boss?" Bonz asked uncertainly, "Isn't that a little overkill?"

"Trust me," The man replied as he stood from the rock he was sitting on, "When it comes to Bandit Keith, nothing is overkill."

Meanwhile, the group were walking through the forest in a comfortable silence, the comfrontation behind them, when Joey suddenly stopped and looked around, "Did you guys hear that?" Which made the rest stop, thankfully before Liliya could bump into him again.

"Joey are you okay?" Stephanie asked in concern. "Yeah, you've been acting weird all morning," Tea added. "You're just getting paranoid," Tristan tried to reassure the blonde, but it didn't seem to work.

"I'm tellin' ya, someone's stalkin' us!" Joey insisted. "We don't hear anything...hey!" Akira shouted as Joey took off, "Where are you going?"

"Tah stalk them!" Joey replied and unbesknown to any of them, Sid and Zygor were in fact watching them from a safe distance, chuckling evilly as Liliya ran after their blonde target.

Meanwhile, Bandit Keith and Bonz were walking down the tunnel of a cave, their only light source came from the flashlight that Keith himself was holding. Bonz gulped upon hearing a distant noise before asking nervously, "Where are we going boss?"

"To a hidden arena," Keith answered. "In a cave?" Bonz asked before a few bats swooped by, making him scream in fright and duck to avoid them.

"I don't see why you're so afraid of this place Bonz, its dark and scary, just like you," Keith told him with a grin, not the least bit fazed, "By the way, you filled your deck mostly with zombie cards, right?"

"Uh, yeah," Bonz answered blinking before taking out his deck to prove his point, "Why?"

"Just let me see 'em," Keith said holding out his hand and Bonz handed his deck over, allowing Keith to look through it with a thoughtful hum, "Good, but you could use some brute force."

"But where am I suppose to get cards like that?" Bonz asked getting up.

"Don't worry, I got all the cards you'll need right here," Keith answered opening his vest-like jacket to reveal several pockets holding several decks, "With these cards your going to have the most powerful zombie deck in history, He added a couple of cards and shuffled the deck for good measure, "There you go."

"Thanks boss," Bonz said with a smile as he took his deck back, "I promise I won't let you down."

"You'd better not," Keith commented pushing Bonz forward, "Otherwise you're going to be in for a world of hurt." As if to emphasize his meaning, Bonz chose that moment to trip and fall flat on his front, only to end up face-to-face with a human skull, making him pale and scream, much to Keith's amusement.

Back in the woods, Joey was kneeling by a stream and splashed some water on his face, "Man, that feels good," Liliya giggled as she stood next to him, a mischievous smile on her face, without warning, a stray of water shot the blonde in the face, making him splutter in surprise, "Hey! What the-!" When the assault stopped, giggling and snorting made him push back his now sticking bangs out of his face to see Liliya covering her mouth as the water she was controlling fell to the ground from her lack of concentration.

"Oh," Joey suddenly smirked, "So that's how you wanna play it, huh?" He reached down and slapped as hard and as big as he could, splashing her, making her shriek in surprise and glee before splashing him back, which he retorted to.

From behind them, hands linked behind her back with a wide smile, Stephanie was very, very happy with how well they were getting along, especially on Liliya's end. She was starting to worry that her normal aloofness would start rearing its ugly head, but thus far, save for when they had to reveal the truth about themselves, she didn't seem to to be falling back into her old distrustful habits.

Joey spat out some water and was about to return the splash when he saw Liliya tense with a mildly frightened look on her face, which turned into alarm as she shouted, swinging her arms, "Duck!" Instinctively, Joey obeyed and felt the water fly over his head, causing a presence behind him to grunt in surprise.

He turned to see Zygor who was now a fair bit soaked from the blast, making him question, "Now what?"

But a startled cry made his head snap forward to see Sid had snuck up on Liliya and was pinning her arms to her side as she struggled. "Let me go!" She shouted trying to head-butt him, but Sid covered her mouth and held a grip to keep her from moving her head. "Lapis!" Joey panicked before seeing red, attempting to charge, "Let her go!" But Zygor hit him in the back of the head, much to Liliya's horror as she gave a muffled shriek of his name, which was the last thing he heard before blacking out.

Liliya continued to struggle as Sid tied her arms and wrists before gagging her. "Let's go," Sid told Zygor, "Chick's incentive to get blondie to duel." Liliya's eyes widened in alarm as she was slung over the redhead's shoulder and Joey, likewise, over Zygor's shoulder, before being carried off. No one noticed Joey's wallet had fallen out of his pocket.

Joey groaned as he slowly came too, the pain in his head a dull ache he didn't mind rubbing, before opening his eyes to find himself in a blue Duel Arena platform, much to his confusion, "Where am I? What's going on?" Standing up and supporting himself on the console, he took a good look around his surroundings to find dozens of skulls, candles and varying other human bones, and he was having a hard time telling if they were real bones or not, which made him very nervous, "A-A graveyard?"

He then noticed the particular shape of the opposing red platform and yelped, "A tombstone?" Moaning was heard as Bonz slowly rose into view, creeping the blonde out further.

"Welcome, to the Arena of Lost Souls," He said making Joey yelp, "Abandon all hope, for no one leaves here alive."

"AAAAAHHH!" Joey screamed with comically big, frightened eyes, "ZOOOMMMBIIIEEES! YUUUUUGGGGGIIIII! STEEEEPPHAAAANNNIEEEE!"

Back in the forest, both shortest duelists sneezed and shivered, prompting Bakura to say, "Bless you both."

"Joey!" Tea called. "Liliya!" Itzel added. "Joey! Lapis!" Akira called out as well as they all looked for the missing duo.

"Where on Earth could those two be?" Yugi wondered in concern. "They've been gone a while," Tea commented sliding down a little roll of hill to the group, "You don't think they've gotten lost."

"No, we would've seen Lapis by now scouting for us to find a way back," Jazmin reminded them of the Blue Court Gem's wings. "You don't think they could've been distracted do you?" Tristan asked with a knowing grin, "I mean, we've all seen how Joey's been looking at Liliya since docking the boat back in Domino, maybe he's getting the chance to...work the moves on her." He chuckled to himself as Itzel and Jazmin shared very lost looks while Tea and Akira shot him unamused ones and Bakura, Yugi and Stephanie while blushing a little, chuckled a little at the idea.

"Somehow, I doubt it would work on a five thousand plus alien," Tea commented dryly, making Tristan shrug. "What moves?" Itzel asked confused, which made Tristan blush darkly and splutter, not sure how to answer.

A thought made Stephanie worry as she suggested, "You don't think one of them were challenged to a duel, do you?"

Now that made the group sober up a little at the prospect as Tristan sighed a little, "It would be my fault if that's the case, I was too hard on him, now he's gone looking for a duel and dragged Liliya along with him." Itzel offered him a comforting pat on the shoulder, making him smile a little in appreciation.

"Then we better find them," Akira said making everyone nod in agreement. "Right, Tea, Yugi, you two go that way, Jazmin, Akira, you two go that, Itzel your with me this way," Tristan said pointing to different directions, "Steph, you go that way with Bakura."

Normally, Jazmin would be listening to her instincts and insist she go with Stephanie, why her instincts were telling her that, she didn't know, but her worry for Liliya as her sole fusion partner, overrode her instincts as a Jasper. She nodded along with everyone else, "Right!" They then split up in the designated groups going their chosen directions.

"Joey!" Bakura called as he and Stephanie searched. "Liliya!" Stephanie called out as well, "C'mon Lapis, this isn't funny! Even Jasper's worried!" She paused with a small jump when a nearby bush rustled, she put a hand over her heart, trying to calm it, "Jeez, Joey, are you trying to give me a heart-attack?" But it wasn't Joey in the bushes, it was Bandit Keith, who grinned darkly at her startled, yet frightened expression, "Who-?"

0000000000000

In Pegasus' observation room, Amethyst and Ruby gasped in horrified-alarm as the unknown human grabbed Stephanie, who tried to summon her shield but couldn't with her gemstone covered as it was. "Get your hands off of my little sister!" Amethyst shouted angrily, punching the floor in frustration at her helplessness. "Steph!" Ruby squeaked out fearfully for her little girl.

0000000000000

Bakura whirled around at Stephanie's scream of, "HELP!" Followed by a pulse of pure energy that sent a shiver up his spine at the sheer coldness it felt against his skin.

When he opened his eyes (wondering when he closed them), he panicked to find the hybrid was gone. "Steph? Steph!" Bakura called worriedly, "Stephanie!"

Meanwhile, Tea and Yugi, who was not too far away, stopped walking and turned. "Did you hear something?" Tea asked. "Yeah, it sounded like-" Yugi started.

A scream rang out, "HELP!"

Yugi's eyes widened in realization, "Stephanie!" He quickly ran towards the scream, Tea hot on his heels.

Jazmin and Akira both froze as a familiar, yet foreign energy struck their gemstones. It felt distressful and urgent, and it felt close. For Akira it was very new, but at the same time something about it felt familiar, like she should know the source, but the identity was escaping her. As for Jazmin, she was all too familiar with the feeling, it was a common occurrence during the war, a Gem in distress would release such energy to her nearest ally in hopes of a assistance, usually whenever they were being overwhelmed by sheer number. But the distress signal set something off for her, she recognized it as one she felt before, but like Akira couldn't recognize the source for the life of her, but at the same time, it set off memories. Memories of the last time she felt a distress signal from another Gem.

"No..." Jasmin said turning in its direction with wide eyes, pink eyes haunting her mind, "NO!" Akira jumped at the shout and turned in time to see Jasper drop the disguise, expression full of panic as she ran off. "Wait!" Akira shouted running after her.

Tristan looked up from Joey's wallet as Itzel's expression turned into one of shock and alarm as she whirled around, making him ask, "Itzel?"

"That signal..." Itzel said with wide eyes, "...Rose..."

"Steph's mom?" Tristan said confused, "What about her?"

"Steph's in trouble!" Itzel said urgently, taking off, much to Tristan's surprise, but he recovered quickly and ran after her. "What do you mean she's in trouble?" He questioned, "How do you even know?"

Itzel's only response was, "Trust me!"

Meanwhile, back in the graveyard arena, Bonz was chuckling darkly in amusement as he said, "Prepare for your final duel, this arena will be your graveyard." Zygor and Sid both chuckled, Liliya, who was bound, sat between them, just glared.

"Spooky," Zygor chuckled and Sid laughed in agreement. "Spot on mate," Sid told him, "He's scared the dweeb right out of his pants."

"I don't believe it," Zygor laughed, "He fainted on his feet." Sure enough, Joey was just standing there, eyes glazed over and unfocused from shock and fright.

Lapis couldn't take it anymore and with a roll of her eyes dropped her disguise, catching the two badly off guard. Her blue glow also caught the approaching Bandit Keith and a startled Bonz off guard as they all questioned, "What?" But didn't get the chance to react as Lapis' wings shot out of her gemstone in the form of fists, slamming both Zygor and Sid away from her, and with her inhumane strength, snapped the ropes off herself.

She quickly flew off before Zygor or Sid could try to grab her again, she glided gracefully around the stalagmites stretching from the ceiling as the three lackeys watched transfixed with shock and awe, before she landed next to Joey. She carefully grabbed the blonde by his jacket collar and shook him as gently as she was able, "Joey! Joey snap out of it!"

It worked though, cause Joey was shaking his head as he snapped out of his trance, making her stop as he said, "L-Lapis...?"

Lapis breathed out in relief before pulling him into a tight hug, surprising him as she said, "Don't scare me like that." Joey hugged her back, mindful of her gemstone, feeling a fair bit guilty.

"As touching as this scene is, you can't hide from the spirits of the dead Joey," Bonz said once he got over his shock and had a moment to get back into his spooky act, getting the two's attention, both frowning at him, "There is no way to hide from your fear."

"Now who said I'm scared?" Joey demanded unamused. "You can't hide the truth from spirits Joey," Bonz laughed, "They see you frozen with fear."

Lapis and Joey shared an unamused look, before Lapis held up a fist asking, "Can I please punch him?" Which made Bonz flinch as the wing on the same side of her raised fist changed into an arm and hand making a fist as well.

But surprisingly, Joey didn't answer her, instead he said to Bonz, "Now I just want tah make one thing straight with ya, ya creep!" He then jabbed a thumb at himself, stating matter-of-factly, "Joey Wheeler ain't afraid of no ghost, phantom, vampire, werewolf or whatever hocus-pocus ghoul yer tryin' tah pull!" He then pointed at Bonz and stated loudly, "Its yer creepy face that scared the living daylights outta me!" Lapis snorted.

Now it was Bonz's turn to not look the least bit impressed, somewhat disappointed and greatly annoyed as Zygor, Sid and Bandit Keith howled with laughter. "Points for guts!" Bandit Keith chortled, "Brownie points for honesty, since he's got you there Bonz!"

"Yeah!" Zygor added as Bonz turned to give them a 'really?' type stare, "You're face is so scary it even scares me and I'm on your side!"

"Then how about acting like your on my side!" Bonz snapped at them. Which was when Joey and Lapis got a good look at Bandit Keith and both of them gasped in horrified-alarm to see Stephanie lying there unconscious, slumped over Bandit Keith's shoulder, bound just as Lapis had been and her locket was missing.

"St-Pink!" Joey shouted realizing they were the only ones who knew she wasn't a rich heiress and his history with thugs like Bandit Keith knew the older blonde would try to use her for a big ransom, and would be less likely to hurt her if that image was kept up. Lapis, while confused with the charade of Pinkamena, decided to trust Joey and go along with it, focusing her glare on Bandit Keith, "Let her go!"

Bandit Keith suddenly smirked at her and shrugged, "Okay." Before aburtly dropping the pinkette, making all three up in the arena cringe at the resounding thud.

This, of course, woke Stephanie up, luckily not landing on her front, making her groan as she opened her eyes and looked around, "H-H-Huh, where am I? What's going on?"

"Pink!" Joey called down getting her attention after a split second to realize he was using her charade name, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm told a heal pretty quick," Stephanie answered sitting up, she happened to glance down at herself and gasped upon noticing the lack of a chain around her neck, "What's going on?"

"A duel is what's going on," Bonz said turning his attention to Joey, "So throw down your Star Chips so we can start!"

"Hey, I don't remember agreeing tah any duel," Joey retorted. "Tough luck, cause if you want to get out of here, and save your two little girlfriends," Bandit Keith said as he sat down and put an arm around Stephanie's waist, pulling her close, much to her discomfort and Joey and Lapis' anger, "You're gonna have to duel."

Joey growled in response, as did Lapis, who had both fists up, her wings mimicking her actions, but the blonde looked at Stephanie with a worried look and, while she was mildly frightened of the situation, she still managed to give him an encouraging smile.

Joey took a deep breath before saying, "Alright pal, _all_ of our Star Chips!" He put down all of his three Star Chips down and Bonz did the same with all of his eight, meaning if Joey won, he'd be a finalist with an extra Star Chip to spare.

"Joey are you sure...?" Lapis asked unsurely. "Lapis, trust me," Joey gave her a little smile and Lapis' face turned a little purple before giving a hesitant nod.

"Duel!" Joey and Bonz shouted at each other as they drew their beginning five cards and their life points were set.

 **Joey LPs: 2000**

 **Bonz LPs: 2000**

"Put him away with a zombie card Bonz!" Sid called up to him and he nodded. "Wait, zombies?" Stephanie asked unable to help a small smile, "That's kinda cool!" Bonz looked back at her in surprise.

"You like zombies?" He asked stunned. "Yeah, kinda hard not to grow a fondness for them when one of your brothers has an obsession for them," Stephanie shrugged.

Bandit Keith looked at her a little alarmed, _'She has brothers?'_ But shook it off and reminded Bonz, "Quit fraternizing and get dueling Bonz!"

"Eer, right!" Bonz shook his head as he remembered himself. "Wait, zombie," Joey said to himself, _'Now I get the theme of the arena, his zombie monsters must get a field power bonus from it.'_ He glanced at Lapis and, judging from the look on her face, she was having similar thoughts.

Bonz went to play a card when Bandit Keith called out, "Hold it Bonz, play the card on the far left." As he said this, his hand started playing with one of the layers of Stephanie's skirt, not that she really noticed.

Bonz looked at the card Bandit Keith had pointed out and was instantly confused, "But this card is Zanki; its not a zombie card, so it won't get the field power bonus from the graveyard."

Stephanie flinched as Bandit Keith growled in response, "Just play the damn card." Stephanie shivered in fear, wishing her father was there or Sour Cream or Buck or Kevin or even Lars or Jenny. She wanted one of her mothers...

0000000000000

In an unknown, dark pink space, a tall figure was humming to themselves. The humming was soft despite the figure being the only being in the space with sentient life period, it was a gentle sound full of loving thought and a distant longing as the figure woven cotton candy pink material together to form a butterfly. The figure gave the top of the butterfly a very gentle, tender touch before it came to life with a flutter of its delicate wings before joining the dozens before it in the air above the figure.

The figure took a moment to admire the swarm of butterflies they had made. No two looked perfectly alike, much like snowflakes, they mused, despite being essentially the same where it actually counted, when you looked at them at first glance, you noticed more differences then similarities. Some had sharper wing-shapes, others had rounder shapes. Some were a generally lighter shade of pink or a shade so dark it almost disappeared against the walls of the space they were in. Some had star-like patterns on their wings, some had little hearts or bubble-like dots or...diamonds...one was almost white with how pale in shade it was.

As the figure continued to gaze at their swarm of delicate creatures, one of which flutter down to them; the hot pink one with the light pink crescent moons on its wings, and perched on their gloved finger, the humming turned into soft singing:

 ** _If I could begin to do,_**

 ** _Something that does right by you_**

 ** _I could do about anything,_**

 ** _I could even learn how to love_**

But suddenly, the area around the figure turned a reddish-pink, much to the figure's surprise as the butterflies all disappeared.

0000000000000000

"Okay then..." Bonz said reluctantly playing the card, "Zanki in attack mode." The monster that appeared was humanoid with blue skin wearing the traditional samurai outfit, the armor itself being a deep wine red while wielding a single sword in both hands, and Bonz was right, it wasn't the least bit zombie-like or undead based.

 **Zanki. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: WARRIOR. Lv: 5. ATK/DEF: 1500/1700**

"This outta put a dent in his Zanki's armor," Joey commented after drawing, the summoning a monster, "Axe Raider in attack mode!" His monster was an organic male like all of his other warrior monsters of a tall, muscular build wearing a tribal, purple loincloth, a gold chest-plate with red on the shoulder-pads, a matching helmet covering his eyes and wielded a double-edged battle ax in one hand.

 **Axe Raider. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: WARRIOR. Lv: 4. ATK/DEF: 1700/1150**

"Go, attack!" Joey ordered and his Axe Raider charged Zanki, bringing his ax down and rendered Zanki into pieces before it was destroyed. "So much for your Zanki, creep!" Lapis called with a smug grin as Bonz life points dropped.

 **Bonz LPs: 1800**

"He wiped me out!" Bonz said in shock, before picking a card to play, "I have to play a zombie card." But before he could play it, Bandit Keith called out.

"No, the one second from the left," Bandit Keith called out, still playing with the hem of Stephanie's skirt, "Play that one." Bonz picked it out and looked at, now really confused.

 _'The Crawling Dragon?'_ Bonz thought very confused, _'But this isn't a zombie card either.'_

"Look, I know you don't like it," Bandit Keith told him, "But just do as I say, and you'll be fine."

Bonz nodded relucantly before playing a card face-down, "Defense mode."

"Running already, huh?" Joey shouted, "Go Axe Raider!" His warrior once again charged, causing Bonz's monster to reveal itself as a traditional looking dragon of a tawny coloring that stood on all fours like a normal lizard, a row of spike-like bones running down in a straight line from the base of its skull to the base of its tail, matching the prosrusions on the corners of its wings, which were tattered and unless as far as flying went. It had two sets of sharp canine fangs, prustions on its chin and deep blue eyes.

 **Crawling Dragon. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: DRAGON. Lv: 5. ATK/DEF: 1600/1400**

With several strikes of its ax, Joey's Raider destroyed Bonz's monster with ease, though this time, without any cost to Bonz's life points. "Go Joey!" Lapis and Stephanie cheered the blonde on.

"Now the card on the far right," Bandit Keith said to Bonz, who groaned in frustration and anger, giving him an accusing stare over his shoulder, to which Keith just shrugged carelessly, "Look trust me on this, if not I'll gladly keep my advice to myself, your pick." Bonz looked skyward with a conflicted and slightly suffering look on his face.

This made Stephanie glance up at the older blonde with suspicious eyes. She wasn't as naive as she liked to lead others to think. She recognized him as the very Bandit Keith Kaiba and Maisie had told them about, the one with a deep grudge and vendetta against Pegasus. At first, it sounded to her like a potential ally, but something about him was seriously creeping her out and told her not to even bother trying to reason with him. Plus, something about this whole thing was striking her as odd. There was no way, an experienced and arguably strategic-sound mind champion like Bandit Keith would purposely tell someone he was clearly favoring in this match to make such poor moves when he clearly had much more suitable cards.

This was cemented in her mind as Bonz declared, "Crass Clown!" And the monster appeared on the field.

It was, in the simplest terms, a very ugly clown, and this was just her trying to be polite. Its body was large and circular, almost too big for its normal looking limbs, head included. Its lower half was a light shade of green with yellow pom-poms stuck to it all over, almost like polka-dots, its legs clad in a dark green, disappearing into purple boots with red pompoms on the toes. Its upper body was yellow, matching its head, a ring of reddish-pink ruffles around its neck in the classic clown fashion. its sleeves ending in a fuzzy, dark green trim and a purple hat of sorts on its head, a yellow, rounded-ended staff in its hands.

 **Crass Clown. Attribute: DARK. Tribe: FIEND/EFFECT. Lv: 4. ATK/DEF: 1350/1400**

"Something's really screwy about all this and I'm not just talking about my position here," Stephanie said before shouting, "Joey be careful!" She gave a tiny, startled squeak, eyes widening in alarm when she felt a touch on the underside of her thigh, a warm, clammy touch of skin. She glanced down nervously to see Bandit Keith had put his hand under her skirt.

Seeing her freaked out expression and how close she was to yelling out, Bandit Keith squeezed the delicate skin under his hand harshly, making her wince as he leaned to hiss in her ear, "Stay quiet and _maybe_ I won't you worse..." Stephanie felt tears prickling her eyes at the threat, her mind running miles for a minute. Seeing her subdued, Bandit Keith smirked to himself and returned his attention to duel as he eased his grip on her and began to rub the abused skin, the angle making his movements unseen to either Joey or Lapis' eyes.

Inwardly, all Stephanie could do was repeat in her head, _'Don't touch me, don't touch me, don't touch me, don't touch me, don't touch me!'_ Unaware of how her gemstone was glowing beneath her sash in accordance to her distress.

"Got it!" Joey replied never noticing her suddenly silence, but Lapis glanced at her with concern, not liking the look in her eyes, "Go Flame Swordsman!" With a wisping burst of fire, his blue clad warrior appeared, sword at the ready, and for a split second he and Axe Raider glanced at each other and nodded at each other in respect, "Flamming Sword of Battle!"

Flame Swordsman charged the clown, who tried to defend himself with his staff, but it was cleaved in half before the orange blade ignited with fire. With one fine swing, the clown was cut in two perfect halves, which burst into data. "Ha, I got him on the ropes!" Joey cheered blushing a little as Lapis wrapped her arms around him in victory as Bonz's life points dropped once more.

 **Bonz LPs: 1350**

"That's what you think," Bandit Keith chuckled making the duo and Stephanie look at him. "What are you talking about?" Lapis asked. "Just watch sweet cheeks," Bandit Keith told her, making her narrow her eyes at him with a growl, unaware how he shifted his hand back to grope Stephanie's butt cheek, making her try to squirm away from him, but he held her in a firm hold.

Bonz drew his next card and realization dawned on him, "I almost completely forgot about this card, now I get it."

"Go ahead Bonz," Bandit Keith encouraged him with a smirk, "Play your trump card."

"Right," Bonz nodded before playing his new card, a trap card, "I play the card, Call of the Haunted!" A purplish mist rolled across the graveyard field adding to the eerie atmostphere.

"That doesn't sound good," Lapis commented before the field began to rumble. "And neither does that," Joey added.

"This card, it brings back all the monsters you destroyed back to the field," Bandit Keith said, much to the three's shock. "And all three come back as zombies!" Bonz added with a dark grin as a hand burst out of the dirt, which made Lapis jump and cling to Joey in shocked-horror, one hand covered her mouth.

All three watched with undilated horror as two more hands burst from the ground, well, one hand, one claw. Slowly, all three monsters that Joey had just destroyed pull themselves up from beneath the ground. Even Flame Swordsman and Axe Raider looked stunned and quite horrified as the bodies emerged and righted themselves onto their feet. What once was Zanki now had the classic green skin of a zombie, its helmet gone and the top of its head bald, several arrows stuck out of its back, one arm was simply bone and its armor rattled and loudly clanked with movement. What once was Crawling Dragon was now purple in color, its flesh missing in some parts in patches, its wings more tattered then before and its upper teeth were missing. And the revived Crass Clown also had patches of flesh and muscle missing, its ruffle now blue and, while one eye was sewn shut, the other was a wide-open gapping socket.

"Behold, Armored Zombie, Clown Zombie and Dragon Zombie!" Bonz cackled with a wide grin. "Oh no!" Lapis and Stephanie said in horror.

 **Armored Zombie. Attribute: DARK. Tribe: ZOMBIE. Lv: 3. ATK/DEF: 1500/0**

 **Clown Zombie. Attribute: DARK. Tribe: ZOMBIE. Lv: 2. ATK/DEF: 1350/0**

 **Dragon Zombie. Attribute: DARK. Tribe: ZOMBIE. Lv: 3. ATK/DEF: 1600/0**

"I ain't afraid of no zombie!" Joey declared determinedly, "I beat 'em once, I can do it again!" He then ordered, "Ax Raider attack that lizard!" His gold-clad warrior charged as told and attacked, but to Joey, Lapis and Stephanie's shock, the blow didn't faze the undead dragon, it simply regenerated the damage caused, "A direct attack 'n' nothin' happened."

"They're zombies now, you can't kill them with an ax," Bandit Keith informed smirking. "And as zombies, they each gain the field power bonus from the graveyard field," Bonz added as his monsters attack power grew, but their defense remained the same, much to the three's furthered shock.

 **Armored Zombie. ATK/DEF: 1950/0**

 **Clown Zombie. ATK/DEF: 1755/0**

 **Dragon Zombie. ATK/DEF: 2080/0**

"Now then," Bonz said, "Dragon Zombie destroy Axe Raider with Deadly Zombie Breath!" His undead dragon attacked by blowing a corressive and destroyed Axe Raider, "Now your swordsman's all alone."

"I blew it," Joey whispered to himself, starring at the field in shock, "How am I suppose tah beat somethin' that's already dead?" Lapis covered her mouth with both hands with wide, shocked eyes, unsure how to comfort him as Joey had to steady himself with the console to keep from falling to his knees from shock.

Stephanie stared up at the field with teary, fearful eyes, as much as she wanted to keep faith in her new friend, she had to wonder, _'How is Joey suppose to beat zombies that can heal themselves?'_ She didn't like the answers running through her head.

* * *

 **Well, things just got interesting, that's for sure. Who was that figure in the mysterious space? Will Joey win this duel? Will someone save Stephanie from the apparently perv that is Bandit Keith? Will Lapis ever get her first duel? Check back in for the next chapter to find out! ;P!**

 **Anywho, that had been an event to write. Again, before you start raining your pitchforks with how pervy Bandit Keith was with Stephanie, really look at his character and think on it; does it really seem like something he wouldn't do? Cause, honestly, I'm sold either way, his character was so fleeting and a little bland, so, who knows.**

 **Again, I want to state for the record that I only write that sort of thing for the sake of realism, not all of life is sunshine and rainbows, plenty of anime and manga have made this present in their production, watch or read Naruto and you'll see I'm right. Oh and for the record, I'm told from very good and reliable sources that the original Yu-Gi-Oh was a hell of a lot darker then this, if anything the English Dub child-safed everything. Heck, the manga even had Mokuba as a psycho that nearly killed Joey with poison if you can believe it. Check the videos by YuGiOh Everything if you don't believe me.**

 **Now, on that note, for the part a lot of you were probably waiting for, right? The unoffical polls of the Title, if Stephanie should get a God Card or which. I'm getting to that in a second.**

 **I just want to throw out, I'm still open to song suggestions, I'm actually putting together a songlist for future chapters that are more couple and shipping focused.**

 **Okay, now to the polls, first off, should Stephanie get a God Card or not?**

 **Whelp, so far, there's only been one more vote in the negative, but it at 4 to 2, hmm, guess more people like continuity then I gave them credit for.**

 **Which God Card should Stephanie get, should she get one?**

 **Well, actually there's also been one other vote and surprisingly, its for our big golden hybrid, so it goes like this: Obelisk 2, Ra 1 and Slifer is at 0, poor Slifer doesn't seem to be getting any love, huh? Aw well.**

 **And finally, should Yugi still stay King of Games or should Stephanie steal the crown as Queen of Games?**

 **Again, only one vote and that's for Yugi, so our King has 5 to our Queen's 2.**

 **Well, again, still plenty of time to get voting, what more can I say?**

 **On that note, I'm going to end it here before this author's note gets longer then it has to be, so; hope you enjoyed this chapter, dark elements aside and remember my golden rule: NO FLAMMING!**

 **See you guys in the next chapter!**


	16. Chapter 16

**In fear of sounding like a broken record: I do not own Steven Universe or any of its original characters nor do I own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of its original characters, I can say, however, that I do own Stephanie, her yami and all OCs I chose to make, including original Crystal Beasts, i.e. Bismuth Beaver, and other original cards. If I _did_ own Steven Universe, trust me, things would've been a lot different and if I own Yu-Gi-Oh there would've been a way for Atem to stay and have all his memories.**

 **So last time, Joey was arm-stronged into a duel against Bonz with Lapis at his side for support and Stephanie captured by Bandit Keith to use for leverage, and he seems to be less than innocent with her.**

 **Now, on to the review replies:**

 **dukealbert123: Hope you like this one!**

 **foxchick1: Yeah, I honestly don't like him all that much either, mostly for the breaking the puzzle thing, mind-controlled or not, and the cheating thing in the Duelist Kingdom Semi-Finals, but trust me, he gets his just desserts, maybe not right away, but lets just say Garnet will be having some choice words with him...among other things...eventually...**

 **Lady Twilight Prime: Your welcome! And like I just told fochick1, Keith will be getting what's coming to him for giving our little cinnamon roll such a trauma (unfortunately its not going to end there just yet), but its not just going to be Rose/Pink whose going to have a BIG problem, as I recall, Steven/Stephanie has a pair of protective aunties and I'm pretty sure White is something of a mother figure to Pink, so, I guess that makes her their grandmother? :/...anyways, let me know what you think of this one.**

 **Wolffang1795: Don't worry help's on the way! And yeah, that was one of my favorite moments too, well, when it turned out to be a balloon, anyways, lol!**

 **flying ducks101: Just want to say, really original author name its adorable to be honest, and I'm glad you think I'm doing a good job portraying both shows in the same setting, I was worried there'd be too much OCing as far as a female version of Steven would go and how the two worlds would really influence each other and don't worry about the Gems, Pegasus needs them in one piece to keep Stephanie invested to get into his castle for the final showdown to win them back, no point to that if he damages them. So, think of the collars as special, Gem-designed shock collars that baiscally act like Gem Distablisers, or however you spell them, or Yellow Diamond's electric power, simply a way for Pegasus to keep the Crystal Gems in line and controllable by giving them enough shock to just poof them.**

 **On that note, let's get on with the duel!**

* * *

Out in the woods, Tristan and Itzel, and Jazmin and Akira met up with Yugi and Tea, who all panted as they paused for breath. "Hey, guys, any luck?" Tristan asked between pants. "None," Akira replied. "Stephanie's in trouble!" Yugi said urgently, much to Tristan's shock as the Gems all straightened in stunned-silence, Itzel and Jazmin shared a tense glance.

"First Joey and Lapis, now Steph," Tristan said skeptically, "What the hell is going on?"

"You don't think...that Pegasus..." Akira said in worry while Jazmin looked close to having a panic attack. _'Not again, not again, not again, not again!'_ Jazmin thought in horror.

"Guys!" A voice called and they all turned to see Bakura running over to them, "Its Steph, she's gone!" He gestured as he continued to talk, "I heard her scream and I turn around and she's gone!" He then held up her locket, "All I found is this."

"Her locket!" Tea gasped stunned. "Okay, now I know something's wrong," Yugi stated as he gently took it, "She said this is all she has of her mother, she'd never be so careless to leave it behind." Akira nodded in agreement as Jazmin took some deep breaths to try and calm down.

"And we found this," Tea added taking out a leather wallet. "That's Joey's!" Tristan exclaimed.

"Why am I getting the feeling that whoever took Joey took Lapis and Steph too," Itzel commented, "This all happening at once is way too coincidental." Jazmin nodded in agreement, as did Tristan.

"Joey would never be so careless to leave this behind," Tristan added opening it to reveal a picture of a young, but beautiful girl with russet red hair and big light green eyes. "She's pretty," Itzel commented looking at the picture over his shoulder, "Who is she?"

"Joey's little sister Serenity," Tristan answered, "She's the sole reason he's in this tournament, aside from helping Yug, and now Steph." Itzel nodded in understanding.

"We need to find them, fast," Jazmin finally said clearly distressed as she scratched at her arm, making everyone else nod in agreement. "Bakura, can you show us where you found Steph's locket?" Akira asked, "Maybe we can track who took her from there."

Bakura nodded in response and began leading them back the way he had come and with the careful eyes of the Gems as they dropped their disguises, they began tracking the much to large to be Stephanie's footprints. Peridot and Yugi easily avoided the low branches as they walked while the others had to duck occasionally, all the while moving through the bush as they went off the main path.

"Hey, look!" Tea exclaimed pointing to a cave she could see through the trees. "They might be in there," Bakura commented. "Only one way to know for sure," Yugi replied as he and Jasper hurried into the cave. "Hurry!" The quartz added as the others stared after them for a moment. "Well," Tristan began. "You heard the soldiers!" Bismuth finished as they ran after the two, the other three right behind them.

The teens became very grateful to the Gems' presence as they casted colorful lights from their gemstones, lighting up the dark cavern and making it much easier for them to see. Peridot and Jasper's gemstones almost acted like the light on a miner's helmet, while Bismuth's multi-colored light acted more like a lantern's light. Their walking came to a halt when they came upon an unusual and disturbing (for the humans anyways) sight; two adult-sized coffins were propped up-right against a cavern wall, eerie candles were littered around, some already burnt out and melted down to the size of coins, adding to the unsettling atmosphere.

"What...are those...?" Bismuth asked unable to hid her curiosity. "Their called coffins," Tristan explained as Tea and Peridot walked up to closer inspect the wooden boxes, "When humans die, their bodies are usually put in one of these and then their buried in the ground."

"Ick!" Peridot flinched away from the box as if burned at the idea. "I know, creepy right?" Tea asked the green Gem, attention on the box in front of her, "I wonder what they're doing here though."

"Err," Yugi said warningly, "I wouldn't do that..." But his advice came a little late.

"Why?" Tea asked as she moved closer, "They're probably just props..."

But then, one of the lids creaked as they slid forward, making everyone tense, before a pair of skeletons tumbled out and right onto Tea and Peridot, hanging off the two's shoulders as they screamed bloody murder and began running in circles shouting for them to take them off. The other five, Jasper included, just sweat-dropped at the scene as they simply watched them run around like chickens with their heads chopped off for a moment. Jasper and Bismuth sprung into action seconds later, the quartz literally punching the skeleton off Peridot, while Bismuth simply grabbed the other one off Tea and tossed it at the wall, both breaking into tiny pieces and dust almost all at once.

"Well, let that be a lesson to the both of ya," Tristan commented to Peridot and Tea, who were on their knees breathing sighs of relief of being skeleton free, he then cursed in annoyance, "Goddamn it Pegasus, when is all this trickery going to end?" Everyone shrugged helplessly, thought the Gems all tensed at the name.

Meanwhile, Joey, Lapis and Stephanie continued to stare in shocked-horror at Bonz' reanimated, newly zombified monsters. Bonz was just cackling with glee at the expressions on Joey and Lapis' faces.

"You've had it duelist, all the monsters you thought you destroyed have been brought back as zombies, invincible and can't be killed," Bonz grinned as Joey and Lapis frowned at him, "Add to the fact they get the field power bonus from the graveyard." Joey looked at his hand unsure of what to do or response.

"Don't listen to him Joey!" Stephanie shouted defiantly, "You can still beat him-Erk!" Her eyes widened in shock and undulated alarm and horror as she felt Bandit Keith's hand slide from groping her butt to around and over her underwear as he grabbed her by the chin roughly. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block him out as a finger started to...to rub her through the thin cloth of her underwear, her cheeks reddened in embarrassment and humiliation.

"Remember what I said about being quiet?" Bandit Keith reminded her, amused as tears started to prickle her eyes, "How about just enjoying the show." Stephanie flinched as he leaned in looked as if he was going to lick her tears away. "You keep away from her, ya creep!" Joey yelled finally getting the idea that Bandit Keith around Stephanie wasn't such a good idea, "And get your hand offah her too!" Bandit Keith leaned away and shrugged, letting go of her chin, but kept rubbing her with his other hand, making Stephanie bite the inside of her cheek.

 _'I really don't like how close he is too her,'_ Lapis said getting a really bad feeling, _'Or that look on her face...'_

Joey, knowing he had to finish the duel as quick as possible, drew a new card and made a choice, "Okay, this one, Garoozis!" He summoned a new monster, which resembled a green humanoid lizard wearing spiked iron armor and carrying a double-bladed ax in one hand.

 **Garoozis. Attribute: FIRE. Tribe: BEAST-WARRIOR. Lv: 5. ATK/DEF: 1800/1500**

Realizing what Joey was going to do, Lapis tried to warn him, "Joey wait-!"

But her attempt was too late as Joey shouted, "Attack!" Garoozis charged Bonz's clown, cleaving it into pieces, making the blonde cheer, "Yeah, adios, ya creepy ass clown zombie!" Lapis chuffed him up the head, "Ow! What was that fer?" Lapis simply pointed and when Joey looked, Bonz's clown simply put itself back together, "It-it came back!"

"Don't you remember what Bandit Keith said?" Lapis asked, "You can't shatter zombies with an ax? If Axe Raider can't shatter them what made you think Garoozis can?" Joey face-palmed, only now remembering the fact and grinted his teeth in frustration, while Bonz and his group chuckled and Stephanie softly whined in distress and Bandit Keith began to put more pressure with his fingers.

"And that's not all," Bonz commented. "Now what?" Lapis growled also getting frustrated. "Every time a zombie is killed, it comes back much stronger than before," Bonz explained.

"Wait, I thought you could only use a trap or a spell once," Lapis suddenly said confused. "Normal traps and spells, maybe," Sid chuckled, "But cards like Call of the Haunted is continuous, meaning that as long as it reminds on the field, it'll keep bringing Bonz's zombies back."

"My Clown Zombie started out with thirteen hundred and fifty attack points, then it got a thirty percent power bonus front the graveyard field," Bonz continued to explain with a dark smirk, "Then, the effect of Call of the Haunted raises its attack points again, do the math, he's stronger than your Garoozis!" Sure enough, the clown's attack points climbed further.

 **Clown Zombie. ATK/DEF: 1890/0**

"Oh no!" Lapis gasped. "Clown Zombie attack!" Bonz ordered and his clown drew a series of jagged throwing knives and threw them at Garoozis, destroying him, making Joey grunt in frustration as his life points dropped and Flame Swordsman tensed in response to his master's spike of emotion.

 **Joey LPs: 1530**

"See, what I tell you?" Bandit Keith smirked curling his fingers, making Stephanie whimper quietly, tears running down her cheeks, "Much more entertaining when your not making so much noise, isn't it?" Stephanie didn't response as she watched the duel with an anxious twist in her gut.

 _'Yugi...Jasper...please, hurry...'_ Stephanie mentally pleaded, _'Please...help me...'_ She blinked tearily and confused as she felt a pair of large, but gentle hands, one on her shoulder and the other combing her hair in a comforting way she remembered Garnet and Pearl would do. What confused her was that Bandit Keith was still clutching her chin to make her watch the duel and his other hand...was still rubbing her down there, a quick glance proved Sid and Zygor weren't touching her.

Speaking of Yugi, he and the others were still walking down the seemingly never ending tunnel.

"Man, this thing seems to go on forever and ever," Tristan commented with a sigh. "Nothing's forever, it has to end at some point," Peridot, the ever literal and logistic thinking Gem, argued, "Though, so far, no sign of Joey, Stephanie or Lapis."

"Where could they be?" Yugi wondered sounding very concerned. "Hey, guys, where's Bakura?" Tristan asked confused when he noticed the absence of the British human, making the rest of the group stop upon noticing as well.

"Wasn't he just in front of us?" Bismuth asked Jasper in confusion, making the quartz shrug also looking a bit lost.

"HELP!" They suddenly heard a familiar voice call from back the way they had came, the vibration and sound echoing around them. "That voice, its Bakura!" Tea said relieved they didn't have to back-track. "This way Bakura!" Bismuth called out.

"HELP!" Bakura screamed as he began to come into view, revealing a skeleton hanging off of him like the ones on Tea and Peridot had been, "WILL SOMEONE HELP ME!"

As one, they all screamed, Tristan's being the only one with any words, "NO THANKS!" Before they turned tail and booked it with Bakura right behind them, still yelling in panic, "HELP! SOMEONE GET THIS THING OFF ME, PLEASE!"

After a moment, everyone fell to the ground as Bismuth tore the skeleton off Bakura, who quickly hit the deck as well as she tossed it to the ground, which followed with Tristan stomping the skull to bits as she did the same with the rest of the skeleton as Yugi, Tea and Bakura all tried to catch their breaths.

"Next time, no picking up any hitchhikers," Tristan stated with a deep frown as Bakura chuckled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. Jasper leveled the white-haired teen with a deadly blank stare as she added, " _Ever._ " Bakura nodded rapidly in agreement.

"Is it safe to open my eyes now?" Tea and Peridot asked, the Gem actually covering hers in fear. "Yes," Yugi and Bismuth replied.

"Now that that's over, which way now?" Yugi asked pointing ahead, making the others turn to see a fork in the road, neither looking very appealing, "They could down either of these paths."

"Obviously," Peridot commented dryly. "How do we know which?" Jasper asked.

Bakura raised a brow as one of the pointed links of his Millennium Ring began to glow softly and lift up by an unseen force, pointing down one of the paths. "Hey, guys, my ring seems to be pointing towards something," He informed them, getting their attention.

"Hey, isn't that what you said it did before at school and before we got on the boat?" Yugi asked much to the others' interests, especially the Gems. "It did this before?" Peridot asked. "Yes, when it pointed at Yugi's puzzle and Stephanie's..." Bakura began before realization dawned on both him and Yugi. "Her earrings!" The two male item wielders exclaimed together with wide eyes, making the rest jump.

"What about her earrings?" Jasper asked getting really frustrated with how out of the loop she was. "Ever since my ring started pointing at Stephanie's Earrings, I started getting the idea that it can track other Millennium Items," Bakura explained, "Since its only down this around Yugi's puzzle and Stephanie's earrings."

"So if it can track my puzzle or Steph's earrings," Yugi added, "That means it can track whoever's wearing them!"

Bismuth's eyes widened as she caught on, "That means it can lead us to Stephanie!" The two boys nodded and they began following Bakura down the path his ring was pointing, only for everyone to pause when Bakura yelped as his foot sunk into the ground, followed by an odd clicking sound, followed by an odd rolling sound that was coming closer and getting louder as it did, from the way they had just came.

"What...what is it?" Jasper asked as she, Bismuth and Peridot tensed. "I must of stepped on a switch or something," Bakura guessed only to be shushed by Yugi. "Quiet!" The shorter boy hissed prompting Bakura to cover his mouth.

"Oh, that doesn't sound good..." Tristan remarked quietly as the sound got louder. "What is it...?" Tea asked nervously. "I don't like this..." Yugi said softly. Bakura fidgeted nervously in place, hands still clamped over his mouth, thinking, _'Oh dear, oh dear...'_

However, the object revealed itself to be a boulder, rolling straight for them.

Everyone screamed and turned tail, running away as it rolled after them through the caves. "Why is it rolling this way?" Tea asked confused. "This isn't the time to be questioning!" Tristan and Peridot retorted as they all kept running. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Bakura apologized profusely, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" But he suddenly tripped and screamed, much to the others' horrors as they saw him hit the ground, only to rolled over onto by the boulder seconds later.

"Bakura!" They all cried in horror. "Ah, dead end!" Tea cried in horror as they approached the end of the tunnel.

"I'm a Gem, why am I running?" Jasper suddenly remembered as she skidded to a stop and pulled her fist back, slamming it with all her might into the boulder when it got close enough. Imagine her shock when the surface of the boulder stretched like cloth around her fist, feeling strangely soft and before a loud popping noise filled her ears.

Jasper and the others all stared in disbelief as pieces of rubber floated around them innocently to the ground. Rolling up to Jasper's feet was a round object with several speakers that were imitating the sound of a a rock rolling.

"A balloon?" Tristan asked in disbelief. "And a speaker?" Yugi added. A distance away was Bakura, who, aside from a considerable trauma, laid twitching on the ground, otherwise perfectly find as Peridot walked over and knelt by him, asking in concern, "Um...are you okay Bakura?"

"How much you want to bet this is Pegasus' doing?" Yugi asked rhetorically, making both Bismuth and Jasper frown darkly.

Back at the duel, Joey was getting nervous and Lapis anxious. _'This is fine mess, I smack down one of his zombies and they just come even stronger then before,'_ Joey thought in frustration, _'Man, how am I suppose to win this?'_

Lapis was wondering the same thing, _'How do you shatter something that just keeps coming back to life? Perhaps a way to turn them back into normal monsters?'_

"Had enough yet, punk?" Bandit Keith asked making Joey and Lapis glare and growl at him, "I told you, there's no way to beat Bandit Keith, so just leave your Star Chips at the door!" Sid and Zygor both laughed as Bonz smirked at his impending victory.

 _'Maybe I should give up,'_ Joey thought looking at his Star Chips, when...

"Pegasus beat you..." It was so soft, every one almost missed it, but it there was no mistake who said it as everyone froze in surprise. Bandit Keith looked down at the quiet girl beside him, a frown on his face as he asked in a dangerously low voice, "What...was that...?"

Stephanie looked up at him with a dark look that took both Lapis and Joey aback as she replied, "I said, Pegasus beat you, maybe not directly, but he it still counted as a win! Besides, its not _you_ Joey's dueling anyways!" She turned an encouraging smile to her two friends, "Don't you dare quit Joey! You have way more to fight for then just me-!" She was cut off with a sharp sound of flesh meeting flesh as her head snapped to the side.

Lapis gasped in horror as Bonz whirled around, both his and Joey's eyes widening in shock as Stephanie fell to her side, cheek stinging from the blow. Sid and Zygor moved away as Bandit Keith glared at the girl angrily through his shades.

"Nobody talks to Bandit Keith like that, girlie!" Bandit Keith snapped in a barely controlled voice as Stephanie glared back at him defiantly, "Pegasus pulled a cheap shot and when I get in that castle, its a trick he's going to regret making!" He then turned back to the duel, "Well, punk, are you going to quit or what?"

"Not on yer life ya sick bastard!" Joey yelled defiantly as Zygor righted Stephanie into a sitting position, "I'm not quitting no matter what!" He then drew his next card and his eyes widened at the familiar animate spellcaster, before grinning with new-found hope before playing it with a shout, "Time Wizard!"

The darkness of the cave lit up as the light attributed spellcaster made its appearance with a flourish of its cape, making Lapis and Stephanie smile. _'Huh, so the punk's smarter than I thought,'_ Bandit Keith thought once calm again, _'He's gonna try to use his monster's time magic to turn Bonz's monsters to dust.'_

Both girls cheered, "Go Joey!"

"Go!" Joey ordered, "Time Roulette!"

"Um, Boss?" Bonz said nervously, looking back at the older blonde. "Relax, this is all a game of chance," Bandit Keith told him casually, "It all comes down to luck, if yours is stronger, then you won't get wiped out." This just served to make Bonz even more worried as the spinner on Time Wizard's wand began to spin.

"Come on Time Wizard," Joey said encouragingly, "You can do this..." Lapis clutched her hands and silently prayed.

"No you can't, no you can't," Bonz chanted hands brought together in desperate prayer, "No you can't, no you can't, no you can't!" Imagine Joey, Stephanie and Lapis' horror when the spinner slowed and stopped on a skull.

"Oh no!" Stephanie gasped in horror as Lapis covered her mouth in shock. "No way..." Joey whispered in shock.

"Boss I won!" Bonz cheered. "You're going to love what happens next Bonz," Bandit Keith grinned cruelly, "Now both of his monsters will be sucked into a time vortex."

"No, don't go," Joey pleaded as Flame Swordsman and Time Wizard were sucked into a vortex, which disappeared. "And half of both monsters' attack points are taken out of Wheeler's life points," Bandit Keith finished as Joey's life points once again dropped, Lapis placed her hands on Joey's back in an attempt to comfort.

 **Joey LPs: 630**

"Do you want me to play a card or should I let you defeat yourself?" Bonz asked with a dark smirk, earning a glare from Lapis in response. _"I didn't think I'd take this big a hit if I ever lost at Time Roulette,'_ Joey thought still shocked from the backfire.

"I find myself in generous mood, so I'll give you a free turn to try and think of some sort of strategy," Bonz said making both opposing duelists grit their teeth and glare at him. "Please shut up," Lapis muttered angrily, fists clenching in Joey's jacket.

Joey simply played a monster in defense mode and Bonz smirked, "Play defense all you want, it won't save you, go Dragon Zombie!"

"Hold it Bonz," Bandit Keith suddenly said getting Bonz's attention, "Why beat him when you can humiliate him? Play the King of Ghosts."

Both Stephanie and Lapis thought the same thing, _'That doesn't sound good.'_

"Right boss," Bonz said with a wide smirk before summoning a new monster, "PumpKing rise from the grave!" Joey and Lapis stared up at the gigantic pumpkin that appeared on the field. It had the normal coloring of a pumpkin, but had a single beady eye and a jack-o-lantern-worthy mouth, a crown sat atop its head and its vines moved like an octopus' tentacles.

 **PumpKing. Attribute: DARK. Tribe: ZOMBIE/EFFECT. Lv: 6. ATK/DEF: 1500/2000**

"What the hell is that thin'?" Joey asked with wide shocked eyes. "This is the PumpKing, the King of Ghosts," Bonz answered with a dark smile. "And what's it do?" Joey asked as the field power bonus increased the pumpkin's power further.

"Oh, it has a very special power," Bonz replied, "Ectoplasmic Fortification!" Three of the PumpKing's tentacles attached themselves to the back of the three zombies' necks and began pumpking them with something, all Lapis, Joey and Stephanie could see was the bulging outlines of whatever it is traveling through the 'vines' into the zombies, making the girls cringe.

"Wait, ectowhosis?" Lapis asked confused. Joey added, lost, "Fortawhatsis?"

"Ectoplasm is the ghostly essence that give my zombies their power, and PumpKing, being the King of Ghosts, can pump their ectoplasmic energy," Bonz explained, "Increasing their attack points by ten percent, each and every turn, and with each turn, they become giant zombies!" As he spoke his three zombies slowly began to grow in size as their attack power increased.

 **Clown Zombie. ATK/DEF: 2025/0**

 **Dragon Zombie. ATK/DEF: 2240/0**

 **Armored Zombie. ATK/DEF: 2100/0**

 _'Oh man,'_ Joey thought stunned, _'This is turnin' intah a real life horror movie.'_

"Go Dragon Zombie!" Bonz shouted, "Attack with Deadly Zombie Breath!" His undead dragon obeyed, breathing its toxic fumes at Joey's monster, destroying it instantly.

"Come on Joey," Bonz taunted with a smirk, "Give me something tougher to fight."

Lapis and Joey growled at him, before the ocean Gem gave Joey a look as she said, "Please, can I hit him?" Which made Bonz yelp as her one of her wings reformed into a fist and duck down, afraid she could stretch it all the way across the field to hit him.

"Armored Lizard," Joey said instead, setting another monster face-down, "Defense mode."

Bonz was hesitant to stand up fully, still afraid Lapis would hit him anyways, but didn't hesitate to call out, "Ectoplasmic Fortification!" His monsters grew in size once more as the Pumpking increased their power even further.

 **Clown Zombie. ATK/DEF: 2160/0**

 **Dragon Zombie. ATK/DEF: 2400/0**

 **Armored Zombie. ATK/DEF: 2250/0**

Dragon Zombie once again attacked and easily destroyed his face down monster. Joey had no choice but to summon another monster in defense mode as thought, _'This is bad.'_ Only for the undead dragon to wipe it out with one attack once again.

"Wow, this is so cool!" Bonz grinned widely with exhilaration, "Boss your giving me great advice!"

 _'Nah, just good advice Bonz,'_ Bandit Keith thought now fully calmed down from his snap, _'You still have one card in your deck that'll crush him.'_

Joey summoned another monster in defense mode only for the Dragon Zombie to destroy it once more. Bonz, now confident Lapis wasn't going to punch him, was laughing madly with glee, "I'm wiping them out one by one!"

 _'This is so bad,'_ Lapis thought clutching her fists to her sides in frustration, _'Those things just keep getting stronger and stronger with each passing turn.'_ She looked at the zombies as they acclimated a startling size over the turns Dragon Zombie kept wiping out Joey's defenses along with an increase of power.

 **Clown Zombie. ATK/DEF: 2430/0**

 **Armored Zombie. ATK/DEF: 2550/0**

 **Dragon Zombie. ATK/DEF: 2720/0**

"Come on, play your next card," Bonz taunted, "Feed my zombies another victim."

 _'I wish Yugi and the others were here,'_ Joey thought in dismay, _'I could really use some support right now.'_

"Joey!" A familiar voice called out. "Lapis!" Another added making the two blink and turn to see Yugi, Tristan, Tea, Bakura, Jasper, Bismuth and Peridot had arrived.

"Guys, am I glad to see you lot!" Joey smiled in relief. Bandit Keith frowned at the sudden appearance before ordering Zygor and Sid, "Block 'em." The two nodded before rushing over to keep the new group from interfering.

"What kind of duel arena is this?" Yugi asked skeptically. "I thought you hated all that occult stuff Joey," Tristan called up, "Why did you agree to duel in a place like this?"

"Oh, like he had much of a choice," Lapis huffed gripping the railing tight before pointing back at Bandit Keith, "Those guys knocked Joey out and grabbed me as Liliya and brought us here, planning to use me to strong-arm Joey into dueling."

"What?" Jasper asked angrily. "Now they're holdin' Steph hostage!" Joey added pointing as well. "WHAT?" The entire group yelled in shocked-alarm as Sid and Zygor stepped up to block them from getting any closer. "And he hit 'er too!" Joey added as they peeked around to see Stephanie bound with a dark bruise on one cheek and tear stains running down her face. Jasper and Bismuth's eyes narrowed dangerously at the last part, tensing their muscles, which made both Sid and Zygor flatter slightly.

"Let her go!" Yugi shouted furiously as a dark aura began concentrated around him, flecking like fire. "Not on your life kid," Bandit Keith said, "She's collateral," He then narrowed his eyes, "And I thought her name was Pinkamena." Joey cringed at his slip that she wasn't who they made her out to be.

"Her name is Stephanie!" Peridot shouted angrily, "Now let her go or face dire consequences!"

"What are you two pipsqueaks going to do about it?" Zygor chuckled. "No one's interfering with this duel," Sid added.

"We'll see about that!" Tristan shouted charging them, making Sid smirk as he took out a pebble he hid in his sleeve and threw it at Tristan, nailing him between the eyes, stunning him enough for Zygor to get in close and punch him in the gut, winding Tristan badly as he fell to his knees, clutching his stomach with a groan of pain.

"Tristan!" Bismuth gasped in alarm, rushing to him. "Tristan!" Joey called in worry, "Hold on!"

"You hold it," Bandit Keith called when Joey made to get down from the platform, "If you leave the arena, its an automatic forfeit, meaning you hand over all your Star Chips," He then put his arm around Stephanie's waist, making her flinch, "And we keep the girl here, regardless of what her name is."

Now Yugi was pissed, "Say what now?"

"You heard me runt," Bandit Keith said as Stephanie looked at her friends with a pleading expression, squirming in the older blonde's grip.

Yugi grintted his teeth angrily as his puzzle glowed, the aura suddenly shot out in a shock-wave, making everyone flinch at the cold feeling as he yelled, "YU-GI-OH!" Yami worked out the kinks in his neck before glaring venomously at Sid and Zygor.

"What are you gonna do about punk?" Zygor asked and Yami's glare turned into a small, confident smirk. He sped forward and slammed his fist full strength into Zygor's face, sending him flying, he then ducked as Sid came at him and gave him the same level punch to the gut. Bandit Keith glared, but only got a kick to the chest before he could react. Yami quickly picked Stephanie up bridal-style, making her blush darkly before returning to the group, where he set her on her feet.

She allowed him to untie her as he asked, "Are you alright?" Her response was to tackle him to the ground, making him grunt in surprise as she hugged her arms around his chest in a tight hug, making him chuckle, "I'm going to take that as a yes," He lost his smile when he felt her tremble against him, " _Hime?_ "

"Thank you, thank you, thank you..." She whispered repeatedly and he returned her hug, hoping to help her calm down. Once calm enough to get back on her feet, Yami pulled something out of his pocket, "I believe this belongs to you." She gasped to see her locket, she nodded with a smile as she took it back and placed it back around her neck where it belonged.

Yami frowned as he focused on the ugly bruise on her face, gingerly touching it, only for her to flinch away, instinctively covering it.

"How sweet," Bandit Keith said sarcastically as he got up, rubbing the spot Yami had kicked him with a deep frown, "Are we going to continue with this duel or are you going to run tail, doesn't really matter to me either way, we still get your Star Chips."

Joey frowned, torn, as Lapis wasn't in danger and neither was Stephanie, but he just didn't know how he was suppose to win. "Keep dueling Joey," Tristan said much to everyone's surprise, including Bismuth, who was helping the brunette stand, "You can't lose to these freakshows," He fished something out his pocket, "Remember, you have something important to keep fighting for...and if you need a remember, here!" He tossed the object at Joey, who caught it, to find it was his wallet.

He opened it and gasped, Lapis looked as well and couldn't frowning slightly at the picture of the pretty human girl inside it. "S-S-Serenity..." Joey said stunned-recognition.

"That's right, your sister," Tristan smiled, "Your dueling for her." Joey smiled back and nodded in appreciation.

"Well, are you giving up or what?" Bandit Keith asked impatiently. "Who is that guy anyways?" Tea asked with a frown as the group huddled protectively around Stephanie as Sid and Zygor got to their feet. "He's Bandit Keith, the human Kaiba warned us about, remember?" Lapis replied with a glare as Joey played another face-down monster in defense.

"It's how Bonz has been bestin' me every turn," Joey added, "He's been givin' the little gaunt brat advice."

"And I'm going to crush you thanks to the boss, nobody's getting into Pegasus' castle except us," Bonz stated as he drew his next card, "I'll set this card, its called Stop Defense, it'll make it so all your defenses are useless once I play it."

"No," Joey said in alarm, "I'll be wide open if he plays that card."

"That's right," Bonz grinned, "And nothing you do will stop my zombies from just getting stronger." As he said this, his zombies grew slightly in size once more and their attack power increased, "Now go, Dragon Zombie, Deadly Zombie Breath!" And once again his dragon destroyed Joey's face down.

 **Clown Zombie. ATK/DEF: 2565/0**

 **Armored Zombie. ATK/DEF: 2700/0**

 **Dragon Zombie. ATK/DEF: 2880/0**

"Joey!" Stephanie cried in worry. "Don't give up Joey!" Bakura, Tea and Peridot added. "Hang in there Joey!" Bismuth and Yami agreed as Jasper gritted her teeth, wondering how the blonde was going to get out of this mess. "Don't you dare quit!" Tristan added.

"Of course I ain't gonna quit!" Joey stated much to the opposing group's surprise, "Steph might not be in danger anymore, but my sister still is, 'n' I ain't stop until the very end!" He then drew his next card and grinned, "Alright, show yourself, Red Eyes Black Dragon!" Lapis smiled widely as Joey summoned his new acer dragon.

In a flash of pale green light laced with black electricity, Red Eyes appeared giving an all powerful screech of a roar as it spread its bat-like wings and whipped its tail in anticipation of battle. The much smaller monsters cowered under the blood-red gaze of the superior monster as it breathed through its nose and bared its teeth at them, even PumpKing looked fearful of the dragon despite being, in height and mass, considerably bigger.

 **Red Eyes Black Dragon. ATK/DEF: 2400/2000**

 _'Red Eyes?'_ Bandit Keith thought, shocked, _'Where did the punk get a rare card like that from?'_

"If I can't play on the defense, then I'll just go on the offense," Joey stated before ordering, "Red Eyes, incinerate that overgrown pumpkin, go, Inferno Fire Blast!" Red Eyes roared loudly as he threw his head back before launching an orb of dark red and black energy at PumpKing, burning to literally nothing.

"Nice work Joey!" Yami cheered his friend on as Bonz grinted his teeth as his life points dropped. "And since PumpKing was already a ghost from the start, he can't use Call of the Haunted to bring him back!" Stephanie added with a grin.

 **Bonz LPs: 855**

"Minor setback Bonz," Bandit Keith stated calmly, "You've still got plenty of fire power to wipe him out for good." Bonz stopped grinding his teeth at the reminder and smiled.

"Okay boss," Bonz replied before ordering, "Go Dragon Zombie, blow Red Eyes away!" Mustering up its courage, Dragon Zombie released its attack against Red Eyes, who gave a furious screech before being destroyed. "Red Eyes, no!" Joey cried in horrified-alarm, but could do nothing.

"Even Red Eyes is no match!" Bonz laughed. "My...my strongest card..." Joey said in shock, "Red Eyes was..." Lapis didn't know how to comfort him as his life points dropped to a dangerous level.

 **Joey LPs: 150**

"Joey don't give up!" Stephanie called encouragingly.

 _'Yeah, but what am I suppose to do?'_ Joey thought in dismay, _'The only monster I have right now is Battle Warrior, and he's way too weak to do anything against any one of them.'_

"Yami, please tell there's a way for Joey to win," Stephanie pleaded with him. "Well, he's in a tough spot at the moment, seeing as he can't defend with that Stop Defense car-!" Yami began to explain before something occurred to him, "Wait, defense, that's it!" Stephanie gave him a confused look but he ignored it in favor of calling up encouragingly to Joey, "Joey! You still have a magic card that can turn this whole duel around!" Everyone looked rather confused.

 _'A magic card?'_ Bandit Keith thought in confusion, _'What is that punk talking about?'_

"If you say so, bud," Joey replied unsurely before drawing his next card and his eyes widened in surprise. Lapis, confused, looked over his shoulder to see it was a spell card of a bronze colored knight holding up his shield and sword, but a blue arrow pointed from the sword to the shield, while an orangey one pointed from the shield to the sword, it frankly looked a little wonky and screwy to the Gem as she read its name, _'Shield and Sword? Is it some kind of equip card?'_

 _'I remember this card, this is the card Yug gave me back on the boat,'_ Joey thought thinking back to before meeting Stephanie for the first time, _'It swaps all monsters' attack and defense points,'_ His eyes widened in realization as he looked at Bonz's monsters, _'Wait, that's it, true Bonz had been able to raise his zombies' attack points pretty high, but their defense points stayed just how they were, really low!'_ He grinned in triumph as he said aloud, "I get it!"

"Huh?" Bonz said confused at the sudden change in Joey's behavior, even Lapis was startled. "Bonz, thin's are about tah get a whole lot different!" Joey stated as he summoned his only monster, "First, I summon Battle Warrior to the field!"

His new monster was an organic male with pale grayish-blue periwinkle skin wearing a navy and sky-blue one-piece that was sleeveless, trimmed with gold, matching his fingerless gloves, boots and crowl, showing off his muscular physic, and his eyes were hidden beneath a purplish-red visor. He gave a battle cry as he instantly made fists and fell into a martial arts' battle stance, staring down the three zombies fearlessly.

 **Battle Warrior. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: WARRIOR. Lv: 3. ATK/DEF: 700/1000**

Lapis blinked at the sight of the blue-skinned man, not expecting to see a human-like monster with her coloring.

"Is that all he can do?" Bonz asked arrogantly. "Next, I play the spell card Shield and Sword," Joey continued much to Bonz's surprise, "Defensive, Offensive, Flip!"

"What?" Bandit Keith yelled in shock as the monsters began to fizzle like mirages. Bonz watched as all three of his zombies began to slouch as their attack and defense flipped around leaving them with nothing. _'When the monsters became zombies, their defense points became zero, with their stats switched, they're practically roadkill!'_

 **Clown Zombie. ATK/DEF:0/2565**

 **Armored Zombie. ATK/DEF:0/2700**

 **Dragon Zombie. ATK/DEF: 0/2880**

"This duel is over!" Joey declared as his warrior smirked at the frightened, "Go, Ultimate Battle Fist!" Battle Warrior lunged forth and slammed his fists into each zombie, reducing them to pieces with each strike.

"How...can I lose...?" Bonz asked in shock as his life points dropped for the final time.

 **Bonz LPs: 0**

"He did it!" Tea cheered hugging Bakura, who chuckled. "Good job Joey!" Yami congratulated with a smile. "I knew you could do it!" Stephanie added with a gleeful grin.

Joey smiled back at them as he hugged Lapis, only to blink in surprise as a the ghostly figure of a woman appeared behind Stephanie, a soft pinkish-white aura around her.

She shared quite the resemblance to Stephanie; the same round face-shape, the same stocky-but curvy figure, they were even wearing the same dress, only the woman's was a ball-gown instead of a sundress, which even had the same star-shaped cut-out around her identical pink gemstone. The difference between them was just as noticeable as the similarities; her hair was much longer, reaching her waist in a cascading waterfall of curls that resembled ringlet tubes and were a darker pink in comparison to the pink in Stephanie's hair, her eyes were black in color and she was much taller, easily eight-ft-tall and her pupils were diamond-shaped and pink in color, making them pop out against her black orbs.

Joey didn't know what it was, but something told him the woman wasn't a bad spirit with how she looked down at Stephanie with such a sheer amount of love and longing it pulled at his heart. The woman lifted her head, her strange diamond-shaped pupils seemed to stare straight into his soul despite her highly grateful expression as she mouthed two simple words at him, but made no actual sound, _"Thank you..."_

And just as she suddenly appeared, she vanished from sight. It made Joey blink again, making him wonder if he had actually seen her as the platform lowered, snapping him to reality.

Bandit Keith growled before walking off, Zygor and Sid quick to follow. "Hey boss, wait for me!" Bonz cried rushing after them, gaining their attention. Jasper growled angrily, stepping after them, but Stephanie grasped her hand, getting the soldier's attention and the girl gave her a frightened expression and shook her head. Jasper huffed and glanced away, unsure what to do, but didn't continue after the group.

"Oi! Bandit Keith!" Joey shouted after them, making the older blonde stop and glare over his shoulder, "Next time ya better have the balls tah actually duel me yerself face-tah-face, 'n' if ya try tah touch Steph again, nothin's gonna protect ya from me!" Stephanie looked stricken, one hand grasping her skirt tensely and the other gently rubbing her still stinging cheek.

"Next time?" Bandit Keith chuckled in amusement, "What makes you think they'll ever be a next time? Duelling is all about keeping your opponent off balance, winning is all that matters," He then smirked at Yami, who tensed, "Oh and Muto, I gotta say, you really are a lucky little piece of shit," He gestured to Stephanie with a grin, "You defiantly know how to pick 'em!" He then laughed as he left along side his three lackeys, the remaining group glaring after them.

"Why does everyone think like that?" Tea asked shaking her head. "You okay Stephanie?" Bakura asked the shaking her girl, concerned to why she was grasping her skirt like that, like she was trying to keep it down. "I just want to get out of here, I never really liked caves," Stephanie admitted nervously, wanting to keep the memory of her horrific experience with Keith as far back in her mind as possible.

Joey finished filling his Duel Glove and looked at the extra Star Chip for a moment before turning to Stephanie and said, "Hey, Steph, I think you should have this."

Stephanie looked at him in surprise, "A-Are you sure? You won it fair and square."

"Yeah, but I still feel really bad ya got dragged intah this," Joey admitted taking her hand and dropping the Star Chip into it, before making her close her hand around it, "Besides, it'll get ya one step closer tah the castle yerself."

Stephanie looked at the Star Chip before smiling at him, "Thank you, Joey." She didn't hold it against Joey himself that she had been grabbed, something told her it had more to do with Bandit Keith himself, but figured Joey wouldn't listen to her attempt to point it out, instead she placed the Star Chip into her glove and smiled wider.

 _'Now I just need six more,'_ Stephanie thought looking at the chips on her glove, _'Please hang in there guys, please...'_

"Okay, we're all back together now," Tea spoke up, "Can we leave this cave already, please?"

"Good idea," Tristan answered. "Lets," Joey added they then headed back the way they had come and soon had the exit in their sights.

"Oh, I was starting to think I'd never see the sun's glorious light again," Peridot breathed in relief, making everyone else roll their eyes half-heartedly. But they all stopped in surprise as a rumbling noise sounded from the end of the tunnel and they saw a large shadow being pushed in front of the entrance/exit, making them all gasp and yell in alarm, running to stop from getting trapped but were too late as Zygor, Sid and Bonz finished pushing the boulder into place.

"Tough luck dweebs, looks like you'll be stuck in there for life," Bandit Keith chuckled before full out laughing, he then turned to his three goons, who were panting from exhaustion from pushing the boulder, "Now, we need to have a little talk..." All three of them looked very panicked and nervous as Bandit Keith began to crack his knuckles.

Cries and shouts of pain and alarm caused several birds to shoot out of the nearby trees from fright as Bandit Keith pounded Zygor, Sid and Bonz into the dirt. Once satisfied, Bandit Keith took Zygor's Duel Glove and the three's remaining Star Chips.

"This is what happens when you lose," Bandit Keith told the now unconscious three, _'Now I have ten Star Chips, I'm coming for you Pegasus.'_ With that thought, he walked away towards the castle.

"Bandit Keith ya slimy weasel!" Joey yelled angrily as the teens began pushing on the boulder to get it to move, but it wouldn't budge, "This thing must weigh a mega-ton, it won't budge."

"Are we really trapped in here?" Tea asked in alarm. "Here, let us try," Stephanie said motioning from herself to the Gems.

The teens obliged by moving aside for them. Jasper and Bismuth started first, being the biggest of the five and began pushing and the boulder began to budge a few inches. Lapis and Peridot joined in, budging it a little more and with Stephanie, it just moved enough for someone small and thin to shimmy through.

"Dammit!" Jasper shouted in frustration, slamming her fist full force into the nearest wall. Normally moving a boulder like this would've been easy, but they've spent so much time in the darkness of the darn cave and used so much light to help themselves and the humans to see where there going it diminished their strength.

"This isn't good," Peridot said in worry, "We've spent too much time in here away from any form of natural astral light, we can't budge it." Stephanie slid to the ground in worry.

Now how was she supposed to get into Pegasus' castle?

* * *

 **Needless to say, this just went pretty bad, simply put.**

 **I figured since that tower the Diamonds would put Pink in essentially blocked out light to diminish her power, the same theory would possibly apply to a cave and how long one would stay in there, since we don't exactly know how long they would keep Pink in there. I like to think there's some leyway as far as saying how that would work in theory.**

 **I would just like to point out for the record that, again, I do not write dark themes like rape or any kind of abuse for any kind of kicks it purely for realism. As we have little known facts about Bandit Keith's character outside the stunt he pulled with Pegasus after he lost the Semi-Finals to Joey and when we see him again he's been brainwashed by Marik. So, to say he wouldn't pull some stunt like that with Stephanie is really up for debate.**

 **Oh and just for getting interest in the next chapter, Yugi and Joey are NOT dueling the Paradox Brothers and I'm going to leave it at that for your imaginations.**

 **You're welcome!**

 **Now on to the polls. Well, nobody actually voted in the reviews last chapter, so its basically the same as before, but for those who don't want to go back to the previous chapter, I'll just write them out again:**

 **So, the first poll is, should Stephanie get an Egyptian God card or should the plot stay with Yugi and Yami getting them like they did in the anime, since Steph's yami doesn't need them. Well, a lot of people still seem to want to see his go for continuity for continuity's sake:**

 **Yes: 4 and No: 2**

 **Next poll is, if Stephanie get's an Egyptian God, which God Card should it be?**

 **Obelisk: 2, Ra: 1 and Slifer: 0**

 **Poor Slifer, still doesn't seem to be getting any love on this poll.**

 **And finally, should we crown a King or a Queen?**

 **King: 5 and Queen: 2.**

 **So far, things look to be going in continuity's favor as far as that goes, but hey, still plenty of time before THAT story arc. So vote while you can people!**

 **Until next time!**


	17. Chapter 17

**In fear of sounding like a broken record: I do not own Steven Universe or any of its original characters nor do I own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of its original characters, I can say, however, that I do own Stephanie, her yami and all OCs I chose to make, including original Crystal Beasts, i.e. Bismuth Beaver, and other original cards. If I _did_ own Steven Universe, trust me, things would've been a lot different and if I own Yu-Gi-Oh there would've been a way for Atem to stay and have all his memories.**

 **Last time, Bandit Keith has trapped everyone in the cave and from lack of light the Gems can't get them free. Now, they have to find another way out of the cave.**

 **But first, on to the review replies:**

 **foxchick1: Nice to know I'm getting such dramatic reactions for my story points. Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

 **Lady Twilight Prime: I know what you mean, I can't wait for a few choice characters to have a few choice words with him either. Kinda afraid I might have taken things a little far with him striking her, but apparently not. Nice save with the little * symbol there, by the way lol! ;) As for the Rose/Pink revelation thing, well, let's just say that Stephanie won't be going into Pearl's gemstone alone and Ruby won't be by her lonesome with just Greg when Sapphire takes off and lets leave it at that. As for the the Diamond Days, well, that's a while away, so yeah, enjoy that and this chapter.**

 **Wolffang1795: Yes, yes, you do have permission, like I stated before, never been much of a fan of him, quite the opposite really. Also, as morbid as it may seem out of context, hazah! I portrayed a character better than the original show did! Lol, kidding, kinda, sorta, not really:P! Anyways, hope you enjoy this chapter!**

 **Now, on we go!**

* * *

Inside the cave, Joey, Tristan, Bakura and even Yugi joined Stephanie and the three Gems in trying to push the boulder further so they could all get out. "'N' guess what boys 'n' girls, this thin' ain't movin'!" Joey stated as he, Tristan and Bakura slipped and hit the floor, Yugi avoided being dragged down when Stephanie, seeing this coming, grabbed him by the back of his jacket and pulled him back in time.

"Oh, just wait 'til I get mah hands on that no good Bandit Keith!" Joey ranted as he got up, "He is so goin' tah regret this on top of everythin' else!"

"Oh, believe me," Jasper growled trying to summon her helmet, but was too light deprived, "He's going to pay."

"How about we worry about getting out of here first before plotting to get back at that creep?" Tea suggested, "Can't Steph wiggle through their, absorb some light, get her strength back and then push the boulder out of the way?"

"Now normally that wouldn't be such a bad idea," Stephanie conceded Tea's point, "I really don't think its such a good idea to do any more splitting up right now." Tea cringed realizing how they got into this mess in the first place and offered a sheepish, apologetic smile.

"Well we better figure something out," Tristan said as he helped Bakura up, Joey getting on his feet not a second later, "It looks like we might be in here a while." All four full Gems and Gem hybrid whimpered at the idea of being away from the warm sunlight for much longer.

"Maybe you guys should take on your human disguises," Bakura suggested noticing how pale the four taller Gems were starting to look, "Maybe it'll save light energy." The three could see his point and did so, shifting into Jazmin, Itzel, Liliya and Akira.

Stephanie simply summoned some flashlights from her gemstone, gaining some odd looks, which in turn made her shrug, "What? Between Pearl's overprotectiveness and my friend Connie's overpreparedness **_and_** their combined paranoia, I'm _still_ surprised I don't have an entire pharmacy worth of supplies in that thing." Peridot and Lapis gained understanding looks and nodded, while everyone else shared uncertain glances, but they all accepted the flashlights nonetheless.

But then, Bakura gasped in surprise as one of the links on his ring started to glow and levitated, twisting to point down the tunnel. He looked at it curiously before looking down the tunnel, then he shrugged and started to follow the direction the ring was pointing, getting everyone's attention.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?" Jasper asked. "My Millennium Ring's pointing me down this way," Bakura explained, "I think it might be leading me towards Pegasus' Millennium Eye, like it did with Stephanie's earrings."

"Is that how you guys found us?" Lapis asked in surprise as Stephanie touched one of her earrings thoughtfully. "Actually, that, and the booby-trap that led us down the other tunnel proved it to be a dead end," Tea replied with a sheepish chuckle making Bakura pause and shiver at the memory of the false boulder trick, whilst Bismuth and Jasper growled.

"Booby-trap?" The blue gem and blonde human duo asked in confusion. "Never mind, this might be our best chance of finding a way out of here," Yugi commented and everyone nodded in agreement, especially the Gems. "Lead the way Bakura," Stephanie smiled at him, making him smile back and nod, and began to lead them down the tunnel.

"I wonder if this will lead us straight to Pegasus' castle," Yugi wondered aloud. "I hope so," Jasper commented grumpily, slamming a fist into the opposite open palm, an angry glare on her face, "It's about time someone teaches that blowhard a lesson." Bismuth, Lapis and Peridot all nodded in agreement while Stephanie stayed surprisingly silent, staying rather close to Yugi, who either didn't mind or simply didn't notice.

Unknown to the group, Pegasus was watching them in his observation room on his large screen, Pearl and Sapphire had reformed at this point. Like Pearl, Sapphire had adopted a new look as well, while her dress was still a classic fancy looking gown, but was simpler then before. Its skirt was still a navy blue, but was shortened slightly to show her ankles and darker blue Mary-Jane shoes, the top no longer sported puffy, circular sleeves, but loose, curtain-like sleeves that reached her elbows and was a robin egg blue. Her pinafore is replaced with a topless powder blue apron that was tied around the waistline, tied in the back in a bow. She still kept her gloves, but they were now fingerless and her bangs were the same, but the rest of her hair was pulled up into a simple ponytail with a navy blue hairtie that was tied with a bunny-ear knot.

"I just love this channel; it's almost time for me to duel once more, it doesn't really matter which one I duel first in the end," Pegasus mused mostly to himself as the Crystal Gems glared at him, "Either of their items will give me a further edge over the other," He then smiled, "Besides, I just can't wait to meet all their little friends in person, especially these other Gems."

All four captured Gems gave him the stink eye, Amethyst being the one who muttered under her breath out of the corner of her mouth to Sapphire, "Creep-zoid." Which caused Sapphire to cover her small smile and cough to disguise her snort of amusement.

"Now," Pegasus continued using a normal remote, much to the Crystal Gems' relief, "Let's see what's on the dungeon channel," He switched the feed to a camera that showed him Mokuba, who was confined in a cell, chained by his ankles to a wall, "Ah yes, another episode of the sad tale of Mokuba," He chuckled as Pearl covered her mouth in horror as Ruby gasped and both Sapphire and Amethyst glared at him, "Waiting for his big brother to come rescue him, not knowing that he is the bait for the trap that I have laid out for Seto Kaiba."

Sapphire and Pearl shared a glance.

For the group trapped within the tunnel, time seemed to almost fly by for the humans, whist at the same time, moved agonizing slow, as they all trailed behind Bakura, who continued to lead the way following whichever turn his ring would direct to. They soon began to noticed the natural, rugged surfaces of the cave began to change into smooth, clean cut walls with sparsely spaced lit torches, prompting them to return the flashlights to Stephanie, who put them back into her gemstone.

"Now which way do we go?" Tea asked as they looked at the different corridors, Bakura's ring glowed briefly before pointing down one. "This way," Bakura answered running off in the chosen direction, "My ring is pulling me in this direction!"

"Well, tell it to slow it down!" Tristan and Jasper told him as they all ran after him. "Why are we _always **running?**_ " Peridot complained as they ran down several halls before finding Bakura standing in a doorway.

"Bakura? Bakura, what's the matter?" Stephanie asked as they all came up to see the room and they all gasped. "Wow...is that...a duelin' arena...with four consoles or am I finally goin' nuts?" Joey questioned startled yet amazed at the arena that was around twice the size of a normal one to accommodate the four consoles, two on each side, almost right on the corners, their sides' being blue and the other two being red.

"Nope," Bismuth replied, "I'm seeing it to...unless I finally cracked." Tristan yelped and quickly checked her gemstone, only to sigh in relief to find not so much as a chip. "Then we must've cracked at the same time, cause I'm seeing it too," Peridot remarked almost falling onto her butt with relief as she and the other Gems and Stephanie felt sweet relief in being in a large source of light away, even if still underground and in artificial light.

"You have entered..." A male voice suddenly said making them all jump and look around the room for the source in confusion, the Gems instantly on alert. "Sacred ground," A second voice finished. "Where only duelists..." The first voice continued making Stephanie notice it had a foreign accent. "Can be found," The second voice said and the hybrid noticed it had the same accent as the first voice.

"Um, well, we're duelists," Stephanie said a little timidly, hoping they didn't intrude somewhere they weren't suppose to as they kept searching the room for the sources of the voices.

"Before you pass..." The first voice began. "Across this chamber," The second added.

The group watched with wide eyes as two human men appeared, back-flipping in front of them. Both men were identical, twins, in fact, both were tall and well-built, easily close to Bismuth's chin in height, putting them around Tristan's size, their skin was sun-kissed and their heads were bald, seeming to gleam in the artificial lighting with identically shaped dark hazel eyes. They were even dressed identically in martial artists' robes that appeared Chinese in style over a long sleeved black gi-shirt and pants. One twin's robe was orange and the other's was green, the only thing that set them apart.

The twins began to do Kung-Fu moves as they continued to speak in rhyme before sending themselves into the air and doing continuous somersaults mid-air:

 _You must agree..._

 **To face the danger,**

 _So let the contest..._

 **Now begin,**

 _Notify..._

 **Your next of kin,**

The two men landed easily on their feet, standing next to each other, stances tall, proud and clearly self-confident, hands retreating into the long loose sleeves of their shirts. This allowed Stephanie to spy one other difference between the twins. The orange twin had the kanji for 'mei' tattoed on his forehead, while the green twin had the kanji for 'kyu' tattoed in the same place. Together, she noticed, the two kanjis made the word, 'meikyu', which she remembered from her lessons to be the Japanese word for labyrinth. She also noticed they were both wearing Dueling Gloves on their opposite hands. They continued to speak in rhyme, ending together:

 _You are trapped..._

 **And the doors are all locked,**

 _ **You face the Brothers Paradox.**_

Even Jasper and Peridot were left speechless as the group just stared at the two in speechless-shock. Even the Crystal Gems were stunned silent as they stared at the screen. "Employed by Pegasus as eliminators..." The orange brother said. "To take all your Star Chip indicators," The green brother stated.

"You gotta duel these guys Yug'?" Joey asked Yugi, who just stared at the twin men in shock.

 _And if by fluke you manage to win..._

 **Why a puzzling new test shall begin,**

 _For over my shoulder, you see a door,_

 _And over my brother's you see..._

 **One door more,**

 _The test if a choice..._

 ** _That you must make,_**

 ** _Which of these doors will you take?_**

Together they questioned their challenge, pointing to a pair of doors that were behind them and were directly beneath the two red consoles. Stephanie had a vague idea where this was going, being vaguely reminded of this escape room that the Cool Kids and Jamie talked Pearl into letting them take her too in Apple City that involved several rooms as one challenge and one part was figuring out which door was the right door to move on to the next part.

 _One door leads to an endless maze..._

 **Where you will wonder all your days,**

 _The other door is the path you need..._

 **Choose correctly and be freed,**

 _But which path leads out..._

 **And which leads to woes?**

 _That is for you to guess..._

 **And the Brothers Paradox to know.**

Peridot and Amethyst both, unknowingly, groaned at the same time, the quartz pulling at her hair and the technician holding her forehead near her gemstone, "I just met these two and I already can't stand them." Which made Sapphire and Lapis giggle.

"Don't say that Peri," Stephanie said in the two's defense, a little starry-eyed, "I think they're cool!" Both brothers smirked and puffed their chests a little in pride as Ruby, in the room, nodded a little in agreement as Pearl rolled her eyes and Yugi pouted.

"Alright, now more Kung-Fu movies for her," Pearl grumped, crossing her arms as she gave Ruby a pointed look. "Hey, don't look at me!" The red Gem said in her defense as Sapphire whistled innocently.

"So even if Yugi beats these guys, we might wind up lost forever?" Tea asked worriedly.

 _Pegasus informed us of our other-worldly guests..._

 **We wish to to offer a different test,**

 _Against the two of us, one mere duelist would be creamed..._

 **So you must duel as a team,**

 _We challenge the rainbow soldier..._

 **And she has the freedom to chose a Gem partner.**

"Two on two, a tag team duel?" Yugi asked in surprise. "Wait, rainbow soldier? Me?" Bismuth asked in surprise, pointing at herself, "You want to duel me?" Both men nodded. "To be fair Bismuth I don't see any other choice right now," Tristan commented.

Yugi's puzzle and Stephanie's earrings and gemstone glowed, and both of them transformed into their other-selves. "There isn't another option," Yami sighed pinching the bridge of his nose, a little secretly glad he didn't have to duel them, but was also concerned for Bismuth. "This is a good chance for you to see how well you do as a duelist," Stephanie pointed out optimistically, cheek marks glowing faintly against her skin with her nervous smile.

"Alright," Bismuth said with an excited grin, "Challenge accepted," She turned to Peridot hopefully, "What do ya say, Tiny? Be my tag-team partner?"

"Yeah, I can barely tolerate how these guys talk outside a duel and I just met them," Peridot said falling onto her but, looking like she had a mild headache, "What makes you think I duel them and keep my concentration in check?"

"Felt like I had to ask," Bismuth shrugged before turning to Lapis, "What about you Lazuli? I'd be a real honor to duel with Steph's first Gem-friend." Lapis looked fairly flattered as she seemed to think it over.

"Ah, what the heck," Lapis finally shrugged, "Jasper and Peri got to duel, I've been hoping to get a turn." Stephanie looked rather excited to hear Lapis was going to duel, as did Joey as the two blue skinned Gems stepped up to the appropriately blue consoles, setting their decks in place.

"Alright!" Bismuth said more excitedly, "Okay, Paradox brothers, the Crystal Gems are about to clean your clogs!" The group couldn't help sweat-dropping a little at her enthusiasm, while the brothers shared an amused smirk, finding her energy rather refreshing. "I'm not a Crystal Gem," Lapis corrected a little harshly then she meant to sound, but if Bismuth noticed her tone, she didn't seem fazed by it.

The statement did get some raised eyebrows from the teens, who all looked to Stephanie who did a 'not now' motion as the brothers flipped up to stand behind the red consoles before rhyming once more:

 _Prepare to be puzzled..._

 **Prepared to be fooled...**

 _ **Prepared to be baffled,**_

 _ **For on this field we rule**_

Now it was Lapis' turn to sweat-drop. "Okay, can you two please stop rhyming?" Lapis said rubbing her head, "It was kinda cool at first, but now its just annoying-erk!" She paused when she realized what she said and then groaned, face-palming, "Now they got _ME_ doing it!" The brothers both chuckled.

Bismuth decided to change the subject before Lapis could get temperamental, and asked, "So what do we even call you two?"

"My name is Para and this is my brother Dox," The orange brother, now know as Para, replied motioning from himself to the other man, "Now enough quips."

"Yes," The newly revealed Dox agreed, "Time to wager Star Chips."

"But we don't-" Bismuth tried to protest. "I'll wager four of mine for this duel," Yami said taking the chips from his glove. "Plus two of mine for a total of six," Stephanie added before Joey had a chance to offer any of his recently earned Star Chips, unwilling to let him risk his spot in the finals so soon.

"But-" Lapis and Bismuth tried to protest. "Deal!" The brothers replied setting down their own Star Chips onto their consoles to seal the bet. "Are you sure about this?" Bismuth asked un-surely. "Completely, if you two win this Yugi will have a spot in the finals and I'll just need one or two more duels then I'm in," Stephanie assured as she and Yami handed their offered Star Chips to the two Gems.

"You fools," Para laughed, "That's why Pegasus pays my brother and me."

Dox nodded in agreement, "To keep you from achieving victory."

"Okay you two," Peridot said encouragingly, "Teamwork from here on out!"

"You guys can do this!" Tea added. "Yeah, we'll be the team and you do the work!" Tristan chirped. "Good luck!" Bakura and Jasper wished them, Bakura being more encouraging and Jasper being more apathetic.

"Quiet fools," The Paradox Brothers said, "Time to duel!" The four's life points were instantly set to two thousand, each display being on each duelist's outer corner, as they drew their starting hand of five cards.

 **Para LPs: 2000**

 **Dox LPs: 2000**

 **Bismuth LPs: 2000**

 **Lapis LPs: 2000**

"First turn honors is mine," Dox said drawing the first sixth card, before playing one, "Labyrinth Wall." When Lapis and Bismuth looked at the upper display to see the new card both were instantly confused.

 _'Why would he play that card?'_ They both thought confused, _'It doesn't have any attack points.'_

But then, the entire playing fiend began to glow before tall, thick limestone walls rose up, much to everyone's shock, changing the field into the card's name sake labyrinth. "A-A maze?" Lapis said in shock.

"Quite right," Dox replied, "And if you fail to navigate its passageways correctly, you'll be lost in it forever."

"Now no more questions, no more stalls," The brother said together, "Make your move, the labyrinth calls."

Bismuth and Lapis shared an unease, unsure look, clearly not sure what to do, as they hadn't seen a labyrinth environment before or any kind of maze in duels before, thus didn't know the limits. They looked back at the group confused and the group just shrugged at them.

So, Lapis was the one who protested, "Now hold on, we don't even know how this whole tag-team duel even works."

"Its simple, we all begin with two thousand life points like any other duel," Dox explained, "However, should one duelist loses all two thousand life points, their partner loses with them."

 _'We **both** lose?' _The two Gems thought in shocked-alarm. _'Ah man, Steph and the Half-Pint are both putting a lot of faith in me and Lazuli, I can't mess this up,'_ Bismuth thought in slight panic, but quickly tried to quash it down with a deep breath. _'Stephanie is counting on me, I **won't** lose,' _Lapis thought in determination.

"The players on each team will alternate with each passing round; it is simple, first I will play, then Bismuth, then my brother, then Lapis Lazuli, then back to me," Para explained as well, "Now, as for the actual gameplay in the labyrinth arena, it too is quite simply," Bismuth and Lapis looked back to the new environment, "All monsters summoned in this match will act like pieces on a gameboard, each monster can move the number of spaces equal to its power level, and while your game pieces are moving, ours will be moving as well, and if by some miracle you make it through our monsters and reach our side of the maze, you will need to select one of two doors."

"Select the correct door and find the path to freedom and fresh air," Dox said. "Choose incorrectly and find only despair," Para added.

"That makes no sense whatsoever!" Lapis shouted pulling at her hair in frustration, gemstone glowing with her agitation, water bubbling above its surface, as if her wings were about to burst forth, "What do you mean one leads to despair? That's not fair!" She once again paused as her sentence registered in her head before groaning and face-planting into her console, making everyone sweat-drop and chuckle nervously, even the watching Crystal Gems worried for just how short Lapis' fuse was clinching.

"Okay then," The twins shrugged more amused then anything else. "We shall give you a clue," Para informed getting everyone's attention, "While everything one of us tells you is true..."

Dox smirked, "The other shall speak nothing but lies to you."

 _'Truth and lies...now what are they blabbering on about?'_ Bismuth thought now lost. "This is more complicated then Pearl's fusion class," Lapis lamented once again face-planting, making Pearl huff as Ruby and Amethyst chuckled quietly, despite their situation, before something popped into her mind, "Wait a meteor-speeding second, how do we know which one of you is telling the truth and which one of you is lying?"

"No, I never lie," Dox told her. "Don't be fooled," Para warned her, "My door is most certainly the door that will guarantee you're freed."

"Lair," Dox argued, "Mine is the door that will grant safe passage, if you'd only heed."

 _'Huh, this actual reminds me of a riddle I heard once, yeah, the one about the liar and the truth teller,'_ Joey thought, before smiling, "Hey, I think I know this riddle!" Everyone looked at him.

"What are you going on about now?" Jasper asked. "It starts with a fork in dah road, dere's dis kid tryin' tah get tah da village of truth tellers, but dah thin' is, dere's a village of liars right next to it, so dah kid doesn't know which way tah go, so he asks a villager for directions, but he doesn't know if dah villager is from dah village of truth tellers or dah village of liars."

"That's an actual riddle?" Amethyst asked. "Yeah, I don't _need_ future vision to know where this is going to go," Ruby commented in amusement.

"So, dah villager says he'll answer one question 'n' dat os dah riddle; what should dah kid ask tah his destination," Joey continued to say, "So he asks dah villager tah take him tah his village, a truthful person would take tah dah right village because of bein' truthful, while dah liar would do dah same since he would be lyin'."

You could almost hear a cricket chirp as his group stared at him, several of them already seeing the problems with Joey's presented riddle. Pearl and Sapphire also immediately saw the problem as Pegasus chuckled to himself. Pearl slapped herself in the face, while Sapphire simply shook her head.

"So, all Bismuth 'n' Lapis have tah do is ask dah brothers which door leads us outta here," Joey finished only to finally notice how everyone was looking at him, "What? What I say?"

"Hate to disappoint here Joey, but I really don't think its that simple here," Stephanie informed gently, "In fact, I think we're going down a different road entirely."

"Well, that's putting it mildly," Peridot commented off-handedly with a small eye-roll. "What do ya mean?" Joey asked confused.

"Well, for one thing, while your riddle does hold a lot of similarities to our current situation, they are also some key differences," Yami explained calmly, "And its those differences that change the entire riddle."

"I don't get it," Joey stated making his friends groan. "Neither do I," Bismuth admitted making Lapis, Jasper and Peridot groan along with Pearl while Amethyst and Ruby chuckled to themselves, finding the amusement in the situation mildly distracting.

"For starters, the kid in Joey's riddle only had **_one_** person to ask at the fork in the road, here we have two," Peridot explained rubbing the sides of her head, "We have _**both**_ Para and Dox."

Lapis nodded in agreement, adding her two-cents, "And they both just said the same thing; one of them tells us the truth and one tells only lies, the trouble is..." As she trailed off, Bismuth and Joey's eyes widened as they caught on to the problem.

"There's no way to tell who's saying which!" Joey and Bismuth said together before groaning. "This just got a whole lot more confusing," Bismuth sighed holding her head, making Pearl tsk in sympathy, Bismuth never was good for puzzles, literal or figurative.

"Don't worry about it guys," Stephanie tried to cheer them up, "I'm pretty sure Para and Dox just said that to distract everyone, right now just focus on the duel."

This seemed to have the desired effect, at least on Bismuth, as the rainbow Gem perked up, seeing some fair truth in her words. "You got a point there, Steph, we can't really afford to be distracted right now," Bismuth agreed taking her turn and drawing a card, she grinned playing one, "So, I'll start my turn by playing Different Dimension Dragon!"

The monster that Bismuth summoned was a moderately sized amphitere dragon. Its serpentine body is long and slender, and of a turquoise color, matching its four flipper-like wings and two thin tails. It appeared by sliding through a rainbow-colored vortex that disappeared as quick as it appeared.

 **Different Dimension Dragon. Attribute: LIGHT. Tribe: DRAGON/EFFECT. Lv: 5. ATK/DEF: 1200/1500**

"Huh, not a bad first move," Tea commented as Tristan silently cheers Bismuth on.

"Now this is an interesting turn," Para commented, "A lizard in a maze."

"But its time is running out," Dox continued, "This is the end of its days."

"We'll see about that!" Bismuth retorted before ordering, "Different Dimension Dragon, move five spaces, on for each of your level points!" Her dragon obeyed, dropping to the ground like a snake and folding its wings, allowing it to slither across the ground as it entered the maze, moving forward five spaces as she had said.

"Fool," Dox told her taking her by surprise, "Five spaces in and you're already in too far!"

"Wha-?" Bismuth tried to ask but Para cut her off. "Now its my turn," The orange brother said summoning a monster, "And I am merging Shadow Ghoul with the Labyrinth Wall itself."

His monster revealed itself to be a tall, bipedal creature of green rotten looking flesh covered in amber like orbs that seemed to act as its eyes. It stood in a spider-like way on four willowy legs and had two, proportionally slightly thicker, arms that end in the classic three digit, sharp claws that gleamed like sickles. Immediately reminded of Bonz's zombies, Joey and Lapis instantly recoil at the sight while Stephanie's eyes widened as she stepped, instinctively, closer to Yami, who glanced at her questioningly.

 **Shadow Ghoul. Attribute: DARK. Tribute: Zombie/Effect. Lv: 5. ATK/DEF: 1600/1300**

"With the power of Polymerization," Para finished holding up the familiar spell card, making Bismuth and Lapis gasp in shock as he played it.

Instantly, his zombie melted down into the ground into a shadow, which immediately shot across the ground into the labyrinth, easily creeping up the walls and picking up speed as it continued to dark through the winding hall-like structures, until it reached Different Dimension Dragon, who turned to face it with a warning hiss. The creature shot off the wall, reforming, half attached to the wall.

"Wall Shadow!" Para commanded, "Reaping Claw Slash!" The creature swung one of its claws, destroying Different Dimension Dragon, making Bismuth frown as her life points dropped.

 **Bismuth LPs: 1600**

"Its going back into the wall!" Tea said in shock as the creature retreated back into the labyrinth's wall, darting off again as quick as it came. "That's cheating!" Tristan almost shouted angrily, "It moved too many spaces!"

"He's right, you said as many spaces equal to the monster's level," Lapis agreed with a deep frown, "Neither Shadow Ghoul or Wall Shadow have that many level points."

"On the contrary, it moved through the walls," Para explained. "Yes, and the walls have no spaces," Dox added.

"But that would mean that the Wall Shadow can attack _anywhere_ at **any** given moment!" Peridot protested. _'And she's right, as long as Shadow Ghoul remains fused with Labyrinth Wall as the Wall Shadow it can attack any monster at any time since it travels on the walls, bypassing the space-rule,'_ Stephanie thought worried for her friends.

But something clicked in Lapis' head as she examined this new information, _'True, it can attack anywhere **within** the Labyrinth, but any monster outside it would, literally be out of its reach,'_ A smile graced her face as she drew a card, before summoning her own monster, declaring, "We'll see about that; I choose Mermail Abyssturge in attack mode!"

An array of shimmering bubbles floated across her part of the field for effect as her monster appeared. Her monster resembled an orangic woman with a fair complexion and mid-back long lavender hair tied off int a low fishtail ponytail and bright pink colored eyes. Her lower half, instead of legs, was a slightly elongated fish tail that was purple in color with a pearly, off-whitsh-purple underbelly, complete with matching soft dorsal, anal and tail fins. Fitted around her waist like a belt of sorts was deep purple armor with a fin-like piece hanging off the front that was lavender like her hair, matching the armored top and gloves she wore. Running up the mid-point of her tail and up her back, connecting to the top was a segmented line of lavender plating and on her head was a purple and lavender helmet. She was armed only with a golden harpoon on a long golden chain.

 **Mermail Abyssturge. Attribute: WATER. Tribute: FISH/EFFECT. Lv: 4. ATK/DEF: 1700/1100**

"Wow!" Tea, Stephanie and Peridot gasped in awe of the mermaid warrior. "She's really beautiful," Bakura said in amazement, face tinging pink as did Yami, while Joey gaped. Even the Crystal Gems were in awe of the pretty monster.

"Plus, I'll place one card face-down," Lapis added setting another card, "And since I can't see your monster and I can't exactly attack the Labyrinth, I won't advance this turn, keeping as far as away from the walls as possible."

"Good move Lazuli," Bismuth said realizing what Lapis was doing, giving her a smile, "That means your monster will be out of the Shadow Wall's reach!"

"Good move indeed," Tea muttered to herself. "This tag duel has only just started," Bakura said, "And they can already focus on the weakest link first."

"You mean Lapis or Bismuth?" Joey asked and Bakura shrugged. "Either way, I'm sure they'll do fine," Tristan said keeping positive, "With each other as their partners, they just can't lose."

Yami and Stephanie shared a look as the female wielder asked, "What do you think of their chances Yami?"

"To be honest, they don't really look all that good," Yami admitted. "What do you mean?" Jasper asked mostly out of concern for her first fusion partner, not that they really showed it. "Well, they have to find a way to attack the Wall Shadow, but seeing how its fused into the Labyrinth itself, that will be a challenge in and of itself," Yami explained, "Otherwise, there's not much they can do."

"Don't Bismuth's dragons have wings?" Peridot piped up, recalling what she recalled about the Earth-legends she learned from the books Stephanie had gotten her and from the internet, "Can't they just fly over the maze and get it over with?"

"True, but Labyrinths have very strict rules and the magic of it can be really restricting," Stephanie replied, "It'll take a pretty powerful dragon to override something like that." Peridot and Jasper looked back at the duel with conflicted expressions.

"Its my move, and I play this card face down," Dox said after drawing a card and setting another one down, he then summoned a new monster into the fray, "And I play the Labyrinth Tank."

The new monster that appeared was a large blue machine that stood on three, triangular-placed legs with a single wheel on each. It had two wheeled-appendages for arms and five red drills on its front, one being gigantic and the four around it being tiny in comparison.

 **Labyrinth Tank. Attribute: DARK. Tribe: MACHINE/FUSION. Lv: 7. ATK/DEF: 2400/2400**

"And move it forward seven spaces," Dox finished and his drill obediently moved into the labyrinth as ordered. "Good move brother," Para praised, "That should help trap them within our maze."

"Thank you brother," Dox replied, adding in thought, _'And also, with my face down card, once one of their monsters steps on the square marked with the symbol shall be instantly destroyed by its fatal surprise.'_

"My move," Bismuth said drawing a new card, "I play Winged Dragon Guardian of the Fortress 1# in attack mode."

She summoned a blue dragon that lacked forearms, but had claws on the corners of its bat-like wings and it had four long, sharp spines on its neck and back. It stomped one of its eagle-like talons as it roared.

 **Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress 1#. Attribute: WIND. Tribe: DRAGON. Lv: 4. ATK/DEF: 1400/1200**

"Huh," Yami blinked in surprise, "So, she has one too."

"Advance four spaces into the maze," Bismuth ordered, Winged Dragon obediently folded its wings and stomped into the maze, using its long tail for balance as it moved. "Bismuth, don't!" Tristan shouted. "The Wall Shadow!" Bakura and Peridot warned.

"You fool, didn't you learn anything?" Para remarked, "Wall Shadow, attack her Winged Dragon now!" Wall Shadow shot across the labyrinth walls until it was behind Winged Dragon, who turned just as it emerged off the wall, lifting one of its claws to attack.

"Oh no you don't!" Lapis shouted flipping her face down, "Glaucus'* Harpoon!"

Mermail Abyssturge's harpoon and its chain glowed turning into a platinum-like metal before she expertly threw it, spearing the Wall Shadow through its abdomen, making it screech in pain. "What?" The Pardox Brother said in shock as the group gasped, startled. "She hit it!" Bakura and Yami said in shock. "Yeah, go Lapis!" Joey cheered making her face turn a little purple, preening a little, much to the Crystal Gems' shock; both that she hit the elusive creature and her reaction to Joey's cheer.

"Let's say I got the feeling you two wouldn't be able to resist attacking with the Wall Shadow again," Lapis explained with a smirk on her face, motioning to her displayed trap card of a glowing, mystical looking harpoon held by a man in an ancient greek outfit with a fishtail, "So I used my trap card 'Glaucus' Harpoon'; it'll catch any monster I aim it at, no matter its origin or powers, it also raises my Mermail's attack by five hundred and lowers the target's by the same amount." The brothers growled as the stats of both monsters changed.

 **Wall Shadow. ATK/DEF: 1100/3000**

 **Mermail Abyssturge. ATK/DEF: 2200/1100**

Abyssturge smirked as her prey struggled in vain to escape her new weapon and gave the magically enhanced chain a sharp tug, separating the ghoul from the labyrinth walls completely and sending it to the ground with a thud. She and Winged Dragon's eyes met and her smirked widened as Wind Dragon gave a big grin, showing all its teeth as the familiar glow of fire lit up within its mouth.

"Winged Dragon attack the Wall Shadow!" Bismuth ordered her dragon threw its head back before launching a fireball at the writhing ghoul, incinerating and destroying it, "Take that!" Para growled as his life points dropped a bit.

 **Para LPs: 1700**

"The Wall Shadow has been beaten," Yami smiled at the victory.

"Go Bismuth!" Tristan cheered. "She did it!" Tea and Bakura cheered as Jasper and Peridot sighed in relief, Stephanie smiled as well.

"Argh," Para grunted before turning to his twin, "To stop our decline these two we must halt."

"Don't look at me," Dox huffed with a pointed frown, "That was your fault."

"If we keep this up we'll be able to help Stephanie and Yugi enter Pegasus' castle," Bismuth said to Lapis with a small excited smile, "We can't slip up, not here."

"For once we agree," Lapis replied, "We can't afford to get lost in this labyrinth."

The Crystal Gems couldn't help smiling a little at the two's conviction to help Stephanie help them. Pearl, while having a lot of qualms and indisposition about Stephanie being on the island, was still glad she had such good backup. The captive Gems were brought out of their thoughts as Pegasus chuckled.

"A toast to Miss Bismuth and Miss Lazuli, for such a twisting first win in their first duel," Pegasus commented making Ruby and Amethyst growl warningly, but then Croquet walked in, "What is it Croquet? I grow tired of these constant interruptions."

Amethyst rolled her eyes, muttering, "Then why not stick on a collar on him then?" She flinched at the warning buzz from her collar.

"A thousand pardons sir," Croquet spoke, "But I thought you would wish to know that Seto Kaiba has been spotted on the island." This got Pearl and Sapphire's attention.

"I already know this, why are you the last to know when you are the head of my security?" Pegasus questioned, "And I also know he suffered a defeat to one of the Gems we didn't count on, Peridot, if my memory serves me correctly," He took a sip from his glass of wine, before continuing, "We do not need to go after him, he'll come to us; for you see, we have the perfect bait." He split the screen to still the duel as well as Mokuba, who was still in his cell, and he chuckled as his Millennium Eye glowed ominously.

Meanwhile, within, the forest near Pegasus' castle, Kaiba was making a straight forward beeline for the castle. _'I'm coming for you Mokuba,'_ Kaiba thought determinedly, _'And if Pegasus tries to get in my way then he'll regret it.'_

At the same time, across at least two to five oceans, in Beach City, a participial platoon of Pegasus' goons were more or less swarming the city, surrounding several key houses of the targets their boss had given them. "Hands in the air!" One shouted as they kicked a door in, expecting to find a family of at least four, "'You're coming with u-huh?" But they found no one, so he ordered, "Check the art studio."

As one pair of men did as asked, the first thug pulled out a phone and dialed a number, when the person he called answered, he asked, "Any luck at the restaurants?" He frowned at the answer he got, "What about the mansion?" He frowned deeper, "Did anyone find _any_ of them?" He growled and shut off his phone, "Damn it, where are they?"

They were unaware of a tiny camera was focused on them, hidden by its dark color and the shadowed corner it was in. Within a certain ship, a certain group of out-casted Gems were sitting at their respective stations, the screens split from the amount of cameras they had operating at once to spy on the large groups of thugs that were ransacking their captain's friends' houses and their captain's own. Behind them, Lars sat in his captain seat, watching the screens contemplatively and disturbingly quiet as the group of humans he stowed away all murmured in concern, especially as a group forced their way into the hospital and broke down the door to Greg's room, only to find it empty as Lars had helped Dr. Maheswaran get the man into his ship's makeshift infirmary.

"Seriously, where does one person find that many thugs?" Buck asked incredulously as their families huddled with the rations Lars had the Gems build up for this very situation he had predicted with disturbing accuracy. "Yeah, I mean, how long until they start strong-arming the other citizens and find the ship?" Jenny asked in concern.

But Lars didn't answer, instead was leaning back in his crystalline, throne-esque chair, one leg crossed over the air in a classic leader pose with his arms crossed. Eyes trained on the screens, flicking between each scene as he did, one could almost feel his gears turning and call the Cool Kids crazy, but they could swear that his pupils briefly turned into pure white four-pointed stars against his stone grey orbs. But as quick as it came, it went.

"Seriously dude, what are we going to do?" Sour Cream questioned Lars, who kept silent, "Everyone's getting really close to panicking here."

"As good a call as it was for you to have us watch for Industrial Illusion goons," Kevin continued arching a brow at how Jamie didn't look the least bit worried or anxious as he watched some thugs tear his room apart, especially as he was holding a tray of rations like some kind of waiter as he stood by them and Lars, "We need to do something to get them to leave."

"Um..." Jamie tried to say, but stopped as Rhodonite called over to them. "Um, Captain?" The star-crossed fusion said nervously, "As clever as this is, shouldn't we do something? What is they come towards the ship?"

"A shield can only last so long," The left Rutile said in concern. "Plus, we don't even know if it'll work on humans," The right Rutile added. "Err..." Jamie tried again looking a little awkward, but remained poise and attentive, back straight.

"Captain, I predict that the human Rubies will be getting wise to our attempts to our scheme," Padparadscha informed as the thugs all left the houses. "Oh boy," Rhodonite sighed slapping both of her upper hands to her face, looking ready to split apart at any moment.

"See?" Jenny pushed towards Lars, who still remained quiet, "We need to do something, we're running out of time!"

"Guys?" A new voice suddenly spoke, making all but Lars turn to see Connie, who had no chance to change out of her pastel blue pjs when they moved everyone into the ship, but someone had the time to grab Rose's sword, which made for a slightly comedic look as she looked at them, "Are they really with Pegasus?"

"I'm afraid so, Connie," Jamie said hesitantly offering her a water bottle, which she hesitantly took. "Lars was really right," Connie said mostly in shock to herself, "Steph was right; Pegasus is relentless, we're not ready for human threats..."

"You and the Gems aren't," Lars suddenly spoke, making _everyone_ jump and look at him, even the adults, as he uncrossed his leg and stood up, a steel look in his eyes, "But _**we**_ are." The Cool Kids and Kevin looked taken aback and bit unsure, while Jamie straightened further to attention and looked expectant, even the Gems turned, looking stunned and hesitant.

"Captain/Lars?" The Off-Colors and Cool Kids questioned much to Connie and the adults' confusions. "Son?" Lars' father questioned hesitantly, "What do you mean, _**you**_ are?"

"You're not actually going to fight them Lars!" Sadie protested in disbelieved-shock, "I don't know what you went through during your journey through space, but these a grown, experienced human men, who just might kill you!"

"Plus, they have you out numbered a hundred to one!" Dr. Maheswaran exclaimed, "It'll be suicide!"

"Then I guess it's a good thing I won't _be_ alone," Lars stated confidently with a small smile, before turning to the Cool Kids and Kevin, "Right guys?"

It dawned on them what he was planning and, surprisingly, they gave smiles of their own. "You mean **_that_** , right?" Sour Cream asked for clarification. Lars nodded, "Time to see if all that training is going to be useful or if I wasted my time." The Cool Kids and Kevin frowned for a moment before composing themselves, whilst everyone else was confused.

"Training?" Vidalia said in confusion, "What training?"

"Wait, Jenny if you're planning on going out there and helping him fight, I swear-!" Kofi began. "Dad, please, trust us," Jenny pleaded with puppy eyes, making him groan.

"Fluorite!" Lars called prompting the large permafusion to poke her head through the stairway in the floor that led to the engine room that was directly beneath them. "Yes...cap...tain...?" The elderly-like Gem asked with a polite, calm smile on her face.

"We're going to need the Big Guns," Lars informed her, causing all of her eyes to almost pop of her face, wide with shock. The twins and Rhodonite turned in their seats, gasping loudly in shock, hands flying to their mouths. Not a few seconds later, Padparascha gasped loudly as well, hands flying to her cheeks as she cried, "Not the Big Guns!"

"Big...Guns...?" Connie asked confused.

"After you and Steven visited the first time, the captain pulled Fluorite aside," Rhodonite informed, "It was the first time I've seen her unfusing even just one of her components, and they built these multi-firing cannons in case we ran into Emerald again."

"You built gattling guns?" Connie and Ronaldo asked in disbelieved-shock. "WHAT?" The adults all shouted.

"Dr. Maheswaran, I'm going to have to ask you to stay in the infirmary with Mr. Universe," Lars said lightly pushing Connie to her mother, "Keep Connie and your husband with you, so you'll have some back up, should any of those henchmen get into the ship and find you."

Dr. Maheswaran looked hesitant for a moment, before the reality of the situation washed over her as well as the fact this was a teenager who had been in space and seen several different plants, and who knows how many hostile aliens, not just Gems, he had crossed. She took a breath and nodded.

"But-" Connie protested clutching tightly at her sword. "Not now Connie," Her mother said, "Stephanie was right, you aren't prepared for **_human_** threats." Connie sighed, seeing her mother's point, she wasn't ready to fight her own species.

"Rhodonite, escort everyone else into the back storage area," Lars ordered turning sharply, "Twins, I want to know that the Big Guns are fully loaded with extra ammo for a quick reload."

The red quartz shot to their feet and saluted, hands rushing to their foreheads, replying, "Yes sir!" Before speeding off to do as told. The duo fusion sighed before smiling with an awkward salute, "Yes sir." Before beginning to usher the other humans to follow her.

"Alright, do you lot even have your uniforms?" Lars asked with a no nonsense voice, almost a deadpan tone to it, making the four teens to stand just as straight as Jamie, who passed the tray to Padparascha, who proceed to collect the rations to bring to the humans Rhodonite was ushering away.

"Sir, yes sir!" The five teens replied in a military fashion. "Well..." Lars prompted with a small smirk as a dark blue glow formed Sour Cream's back, an electric crimson from beneath Jenny's scarf, a pale green from his navel beneath Kevin's shirt, an aureolin yellow one from Buck's chest beneath his own shirt and a lilac purple glow from Jamie's lower back near his waist.

Water danced across Sour Cream's form, forming an azure jumpsuit with tank-top sleeves and full-length pant-legs with an electric blue belt. Next to be formed was a cropped, quarter-sleeved indigo jacket with yale blue cuffs, collar and a matching four-pointed star on the back that had a smaller diamond-shaped cut out around a cabachon sphere lapis lazuli that was embedded into his back. a yale blue headband decorated with dodger blue bubbles formed around his head, followed by matching bubbles across the lower part of the pant-legs. Finally, a pair of of electric blue sandals with golden four pointed stars on the top straps formed on his feet.

Likewise, fire danced across Jenny's form, fazing away her own jumpsuit that was scarlet red in color with dark red belt that had a heart for a buckle, revealing the octagon cut ruby embedded into her collar like a necklace-pendant. Next came her own jacket that was identical to Sour Cream's, only hers was a mystic red color with a Persian red four-pointed star and matching cuffs and collar. Mystic red hearts decorated the hips of her pants while dark red flame-like whips danced up the pant legs up to the knees. Last to form were a pair of magenta red ankle boots and a matching heart-shaped hairclip.

Wind manifested with a strange pale green pigment around Kevin as he too fazed into a jumpsuit and jacket. His jumpsuit was a suitable greenish-yellow color decorated with spring bud green swirl-like patterns up the pant-legs, which were tucked in to a pair of apple green military ankle boots. The stomach area of his jumpsuit had a butterfly-shaped cut out to frame the pale green radiant cut topaz that had taken the place of his belly-button. His jacket, unlike Sour Cream and Jenny's, had elbow-long sleeves and was a dark pastel green with an apple green four-pointed star, sleeves and collar. In the center of the four-pointed star was a bright green cloud. The last thing to form was a pair of futuristic dark pastel green colored visors with pale green lens that matched his new gloves.

Pebbles and grains of sand raced across Buck's body as he too fazed out of his pjs into a new outfit. His jumpsuit was amber yellow with a gold colored jacket that had full sleeves, the collar and cuffs being a more metallic gold color, matching the four-pointed star on the back, a smaller midako yellow lightning bolt in the center of it. In the center of his chest was a triangular-shaped cut out to frame the yellow pear-cut agate in his chest. His pant legs were decorated with jagged shapes that resembled rocks that were a harvest gold. The last things to form were a pair of metallic, futuristic gold colored head-set and boots.

And finally, wisps of lavender energy crawled across Jamie as he too took on a jumpsuit and jacket. His jumpsuit was a soft periwinkle purple with elbow-long sleeves, while the jacket was a violet purple sleeveless with a slightly raised, mauve collar. The four-pointed star on the back of his jacket was mauve purple with a smaller orchid purple dragonfly. On the small of his lower back, a simple circular cut out framed the purple button-shaped pearl. Finally, a pair of mauve purple flats formed on his feet and a violet head-ring made of thin wire wrapped around his head.

Lars gave a very satisfied smile as the five stood at attention, before stating, "Perfect," He then paced for a moment, "Sour Cream and Jenny have the most effective efficiency with their elements, and Jamie and Buck have the most efficiency with their weapon," He turned to them, "So Jenny and Jamie will be taking front as their the most nimble and frontal; Buck, Kevin, you two will back them up and Sour Cream, you're to hang back, since we're on the beach, you'll have access to all the water you'll need, so feel free to rotate between guarding the ship and over all covering the rest of us."

"What about the Big Guns?" Jamie questioned. "The twins will be taking the first one on the ships right flank," Lars replied, "Fluorite's Peridot will be taking the other one; they'll be covering us in terms of helping Sour Cream defend the ship and taking out any reinforcements that try to overwhelm one of us if we're by ourselves."

All five nodded in response, "Right!"

Outside the ship, the 'platoon' finally found the ship and was advancing. But they all paused at a sudden rumbling coming from the alien spaceship. Suddenly, the doors opened as a voice yelled, "NOW!"

Five of their targets suddenly shot out, five of them running towards them. The only girl had her fists a lit with large flames as she charged towards them, the one with the visors was armed with a crystalline mallet that was a greenish-yellow, the one with the head-set brought his hands to the yellow gemstone to his chest, summoning a pair of yellow energy whips. The blonde boy gained a pair of wings made of water, but unlike the Lapis Lazuli with her ragged, bubble-like wings, his were sharper and more bird-like as large waves began to crash against the shore as he shot high into the air. The one with pink hair was armed with a sword at his waist and a pair of pistols in his hands and the one dressed in purple spun and summoned a pair of katanas.

A pair of cannon-like machines emerged from the sides of the ship. A tall green woman sat at one and a two-headed red woman at the other.

One man couldn't help saying, "And Croquet said this was suppose to be easy!"

* * *

 **And done! There, I thought I was never going to get this done for a second. I gotta say, I'm loving these twists so far, been a hoot to write. Let me know what you guys think of Bismuth and Lapis taking on the brothers in Yami and Joey's places, and the Cool Kids, Kevin and Jamie apparently being hybrids.**

 **Glaucus* is a Greek God of the sea that used to be an ordinary fisherman until he ate some kind of plant, I figured since Lapis' deck is mostly made up on the Atlantean and Mermail archtypes, which are pretty much based on Greek myths and legends, including an OC card including another piece of that mythology wouldn't be such a bad idea.**

 **Afraid not one actually posted any new votes, so they're the same as before, so no changes there, but plenty of time for more people to vote.**

 **Also, I'm curious to hear what you guys would think for other Steven Universe characters and what they're decks will be, so let me know in your review.**

 **Until next time everyone!**


	18. Chapter 18

**In fear of sounding like a broken record: I do not own Steven Universe or any of its original characters nor do I own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of its original characters, I can say, however, that I do own Stephanie, her yami and all OCs I chose to make, including original Crystal Beasts, i.e. Bismuth Beaver, and other original cards. If I _did_ own Steven Universe, trust me, things would've been a lot different and if I own Yu-Gi-Oh there would've been a way for Atem to stay and have all his memories.**

 **Last time, Bismuth and Lapis engaged in their very first duel as tag team partners against the Paradox Brothers in order to earn the group's freedom out of the maze of tunnels, and Pegasus has a legion of men at Beach City, most likely to grab yet another hostage to ensure his success with gaining the earrings from Stephanie. Also, it would appear that the Cool Kids, Kevin and Jamie are Gem hybrids; Sour Cream has a sphere-cut cabachon lapis lazuli in the middle of his back, Jenny has an octagonal-cut ruby on her collarbone, Kevin has a pale green radiant-cut topaz on his navel like Stephanie, Buck has a pear-cut yellow agate in the center of his chest and Jamie has a button-cut purple pearl on his lower back near his waist.**

 **foxchick1: Huh, I wasn't actually going for an anime vibe with them, but I guess the reference would technically be there, let me know what you think about their gemstones, do you think they're fitting? I'm interested to hear.**

 **Lady Twilight Prime: Hey, give Pegasus credit for covering his bases and cutting any lose ends, ya gotta give him that much. Its almost admirable how well of a mastermind he really is and how far he was willing to go for Cecilia, too bad he never seemed to get much closure on that, at least on screen. And yeah, I agree with you and Lapis, as cool as the in sync and on the fly rhyming was at first, it can get grating, especially with their comeback in GX. And Mokie's really getting the short end of the stick here. L** **et me know what you think of this chapter.**

 **Now, on with the chapter!**

* * *

Within Pegasus' observatory room, Croquet received a call, "Yes?" The Gems raised a brow at how Croquet's expression turned stunned and confused, "What do you mean there's a problem?" Now Pegasus was glancing over curiously, "You found them, so what's the problem?" Croquet's jaw dropped and his glasses fell off, "They're _**what**_ now?"

On the beach of Beach City, the group of six super-humans were defending the ship that housed their friends and family, and their littlest hybrid friend's incapacitated father. The thugs that Pegasus had hired were surprisingly tough and agile for normal looking humans and their size, all armed with thick looking batons that served well as defense against Jamie's katanas, Kevin's mallet and Buck's whips. Lars was starting to think they were wearing specialized bullet-proof vests or something with how they were taking his bullets and the Big Guns' explosive ammo. Sour Cream had willed a large wave from the shoreline and had it turn on a sideways motion before willing it to freeze into a thick wall of ice that was low enough for Fluorite's Peridot and the twins to still have an easy time shooting but still give the thugs have a hard time, and was throwing little waves at them.

"Do these guys ever quit?" Jenny asked pressed up back to back with Buck, who whipped whoever go too close, before she did a roundhouse kick, launching a lash of fire from her foot as she went. "What are they made of metal?" Buck complained as well.

Jamie was taking a note out of his Crystal Gem counterpart, moving elegantly as he forced the thugs back with precise slashes of his katanas, ducking whenever one of them tried to sneak out behind him and knock him out, only for him to duck swiftly and for them to get a butt of a sword handle to the face, followed by kick. Well, that would happen, or they get a swift hit in the side from Kevin's mallet or a sudden torrent of wind would send them flying.

Lars ducked behind a rock, firing his pistols, muttering, "Just when I thought the Japanese population couldn't be more corrupt..." He never noticed the goon that was creeping up behind with what could've passed for an authentic kunai poised for a strike, instead he pressed onto the earpiece he wore, "Sour Cream, do you see any-?"

Sour Cream noticed though. Without a second thought he rose an arm, hand poised as if holding something. Within seconds, water rose from another wave, forming and freezing into a crude spear of ice. "Lars, look out!" He shouted chucking it with all his strength.

Lars turned with startled eyes, only to flinch slightly as the spear impaled itself through the made at a downward angle front chest to stomach. Sour Cream's eyes dilated in shock as he processed what he just did. But Lars' expression turned confused as he noticed a severe lack of a certain detail. There was no blood, not even the front end of the spear sticking out through the front of the thug, instead, the stain on the front end of the spear as an inky black, dripping into a pool that sunk easily into the sand as the thug collapsed.

Testing his theory, Lars slid a gloved finger across the stained end of the spear and brought it to his nose, wincing and inwardly choking at the distinctive smell of gasoline. This wasn't blood: it was motor oil.

A stuttering sound over his com made him look back up to where the spear had come from to see Sour Cream having a panic attack and his brain quickly kicked in. "Cream! Sour Cream, calm down, it was a robot!" Lars said trying to keep as calm as he could considering Lars' powers were empathetic based and were summoning even more violent waves crashing against the shoreline, steadying getting higher then necessary, "They're robots!"

"Huh?" Was everyone's surprised responses.

Giving a experimental thought a try, Jamie elegantly sliced a baton in half, before moving in closer for a slash across a thug's chest, wincing at the spray of oil and flash of sparks that entailed afterward before the body fell. Spitting out what had gotten in his mouth, Jamie confirmed, "Yep, they're robots alright."

"Jay, duck!" Kevin yelled, prompting the shorter male to fall into a split as the dark skinned male chucked his mallet at an on coming thug, sending it flying with a dent that would defiantly crush something important had that been a human, "Robots certain explain how many there are."

"Guess we underestimated how resourceful Pegasus really is," Jamie remarked still in a split, before tapping his cheek in thought, "Or did we overestimate?" He yelped as a pair of strong arms wrapped around him, pulling him to his feet.

"Now's not the time to be speculating Jay," Kevin commented before summoning another mallet, oblivious to how Jamie blushed at how he had helped him up, "Keep fighting." Jamie nodded silently, not trusting his voice at the moment as he stabbed an on coming robot-thug.

"Well...if they aren't real people..." Jenny grinned as flames danced up her arms, she then threw herself into the fray with a new vigor, jumping away at the right time to avoid the explosion her flames and the robots' oil caused, laughing with manic glee as she went. "Hey, Jenny, wait, I gotta watch your back!" Buck shouted after her, but sighed knowing Jenny could watch herself for the moment, he swung his whips with more force, one wrapping so tight around the neck of one robot, the head popped clean off, the other wrapped around the robot's arm, sending enough of a jolt to cause the rest of the body to blow.

Sour Cream lowered himself onto the roof of the ship, hand over his heart as he tried to calm down. _"It was just a robot, it was just a robot, it was just a robot,'_ He reminded himself, breathing deeply as he did, trying to recede the waves he had called.

Fluorite's Peridot and the Rutile Twins were also wearing coms so they could inform the other when they were reloading so the other could be extra vigilant with watching their captain and his friends' backs. "So, the others and I were thinking about our turn to ask the captain about earth life," The Era One Peridot was saying over the com to the twins as they fired at whatever idiot got too close despite Sour Cream's wall, her round-cut gemstone gleaming on her forehead, "And we were thinking deep sea life would be an interesting topic."

"Huh?" Both twins blinked in surprise. "That would only make sense if one of your components was a lazuli*," The right twin in befuddlement. "But there isn't one among you," The left twin added, "Why would you want to talk about that?"

"I dunno," The Peridot replied shrugging, "Just thought it would be nice to know what lives on our new home planet," She then yelped, "Watch out, far left quad!" The twins yelped and shot wildly, but managed to hit the robot that somehow climbed the ice wall without their notice, ending up filling it so full of holes, the oil spilled out all over the ice as it tumbled back down.

"Um, perhaps, focusing on the task at hand, ladies?" Lars' voice quipped over their com, making them chuckle sheepishly, face darkening in embarrassment. "I predict that our captain is going to be needing those capsules that Dr, Maheswaran suggest when one's gem hurts," Padparadscha piped up over the com so suddenly it made everyone with a com to jump.

After a moment of silence, Lars' expression dropped into a deadpanned stare as he commented, "Thanks Paddy..." Before blankly shooting another robot. He then checked the barrels to find his pistols empty and shrugged before pocketing them and drawing his claymore, throwing himself into the heat of battle, thinking, _'I really hope Steph wins this tournament soon...'_

Back on Duelist Kingdom Island, Kaiba was continuing his journey to Pegasus' castle, his mind on his little brother as he trekked through the woods. _'I'm almost to Pegasus' castle, but I can't let my guard down yet; his goons are everywhere, but I can't let them stop me; my little brother's life is at stake, and I'd do anything for him,'_ Seto thought pausing to take out a duel monster card-shaped locket, opening to see a picture of a younger version of Mokuba, sitting at a chessboard with a wide, happy smile, _'Ever since we were at the orphanage I promised to always look out for him, he looks up to me, and I won't let him down.'_

He tightened his grip around the locket for a moment before hiding it again under his shirt and continued walking, but he paused once more upon hearing footsteps. He smirked knowingly as someone tried to sneak up on him, before slamming his elbow into the person's stomach, then throwing them over his shoulder by the collar.

"Kemo," Kaibe spat with narrowed eyes, "I should have known."

"Lucky shot," The goon coughed as the CEO pulled him roughly to his feet. "I don't believe in luck," Kaiba stated as he twisted the man's am behind his back, before smirking, "But since you so kindly came out of your hiding place for me, you're going to help me find Mokuba."

Back at the labyrinth duel arena, Lapis drew her next card and examined it and the rest of her hand carefully as the twins watched her and Bismuth.

"With a trap," Para said, "You stopped our attack."

"Just you did pledge," Dox added, "But with our scores..."

"Ahead of yours," Para finished, "We still have an edge."

"Hey, your life points are only ahead of Bismuth's by a hundred, so don't go getting cocky," Lapis reminded him with a small frown before picking a card to play, "Things are only just getting started and I summon 7 Colored Fish in attack mode!"

Her new monster was an eel-like fish that was multi-colored. Its head was a spring grass green that darkened as it faded into the sky-blue scales that covered its neck section. Its middle was an indigo-blue, its upper tail being a violet purple and the final part of its tail was a ruby red in its final segment. Its tail fins were bright yellow, it had horns protruding from its cheeks and its mouth was full of sharp teeth, its lips seemed to have been painted red to match its tail.

 **7 Colored Fish. Attribute: WATER. Tribe: FISH. Lv: 4. ATK/DEF: 1800/800**

"As a level four monster, I'll have him advance four spaces to join Winged-Guardian," Lapis said firmly, "And I'll have my Abyssturge do the same," Both fish and mermaid did as their mistress said, the mermaid entering the labyrinth first, followed by the rainbow eel, flanking their winged ally, "My harpoon's effect may have been used up, but my Mermail's attack remains raised."

"Now they have three strong monsters!" Joey grinned. "They got this," Tristan agreed but the spirit of the earrings and Yami shared an unsure glance as Dox drew.

"It doesn't matter if your forces one or many," Para stated, "For soon..."

"There won't be any," Dox continued before making his move, ordering, "Labyrinth Tank, advance seven more spaces," His machine-like monster sped further into the maze, "Labryinth Tank wields with futuristic weaponry, you're arcane warrior mermaid, mystic fish and dragon won't stand a chance."

"Huh?" Peridot said in confusion, "What are those two clods going on about now?"

"I'm afraid that he has a point," Stephanie said, "The magic that runs through Bismuth and Lapis' monsters may be strong, but the futuristic energy that fuels machines and mechanized creatures is stronger."

"Monsters armored with any sort of machine or a living machine is naturally immune to the attacks of magical creatures," Yami explained as well, "Even if they're monsters did have higher attack points, it would be pointless to attack, as the blast would simply faze through as if the target wasn't even there."

"But Lapis' deck is mostly magic wielding monsters," Jasper spoke up, some concern showing on her face.

"And somewhere in the labyrinth lurks another trap for your unweary warriors," Para continued to speak, "Do you really think they have a chance?"

"Do these two ever shut up?" Lapis grumbled running a hand over her face tiredly, before turning to Bismuth, "Bismuth, its your move." Bismuth nodded and drew a card.

"I play the Luster Dragon #2," Bismuth said as she summoned a new dragon to the field.

This dragon resembled a more classical and more common design of dragonkind, having both front claws and hind claws, and bat-like wings. He was much larger compared to Bismuth's Winged Dragon, almost dwarfing the blue lizard. Its scales were just as smooth looking and were a deep greenish-gray in color with robin egg blue eyes. It had spike-like horns protruding from its head and thick whiskers on its snout. With opened its wings wide and released a deep roar as wind billowed across the field.

 **Luster Dragon #2. Attribute: WIND. Tribe: DRAGON/NORMAL. Lv: 6. ATK/DEF: 2400/1400**

"I move him five spaces," Bismuth continued, "To defend our troop."

Luster Dragon obeyed her command without hesitance, folding his wings against his back as rushed into the maze, using his momentum he leaped onto one of the labyrinth's walls, digging his claws into the stone. He crawled across the wall to bypass his comrade and allies before leaping off onto the space in front of them with the grace of a cat.

"No matter where you are, there's always strength in numbers," Lapis smiled confidently, "Now we have a better chance at conquering this maze." Stephanie involuntarily flinched at the word 'conquer', but didn't otherwise say or do anything, merely watching on.

"We shall see," Para stated before drawing a card and grinned at it. "Well, spit it out already!" Joey snapped unable to bear the suspense any longer and stay quiet, "What is it?"

"A magic card, and that is a cause for celebration," Para replied before playing his newly revealed spell card, "Because now I play the wall shifting card, Magical Labyrinth."

Both Bismuth and Lapis stared, taken aback, "Huh?" While both spirits of the puzzle and earrings shared a concerned glance.

Then, the entire labyrinth field began changing. "The walls!" Peridot gasped in shock. "They're movin'!" Joey added before a wall rose up, separating Bismuth's dragons from Lapis' two fish monsters. "That's not good," Tristan said worriedly. "Duh," Jasper commented at the brunette sharply.

From the observation room, the Crystal Gems all gulped in worry, whilst Pegasus just chuckled into his glass of wine.

"The power of Magical Labyrinth allows us to change the maze however we wish," Para explained with an amused expression on his face. "Tag teams are only as strong as their weakest link," Dox added with a smirk, eyes on Lapis, who frowned at him heatedly, "And the link that shall be broken is you."

"So much for that idea," The sea Gem commented dryly, drawing her next card. "Don't let them rattle your shards Lazuli," Bismuth, surprisingly calm, advised, "We can just come up with another plan."

Lapis took a breath to calm herself and nodded her agreement, "Right," She then returned her attention to her monsters and ordered, "Abyssturge, 7 Colored Fish, advance and regroup." Her two monsters then advanced, more or less floating, save for the chain of Abyssturge's harpoon, which dragged on the floor as she went. Unknown to them or Lapis, they were heading straight for a trap.

Luckily, or unluckily(depends on how one views it), Bismuth was at the right angle to notice the strange square with a web and spider symbol on it right in the two monsters' path. "Ah!" Bismuth gasped upon realizing what it was, "Lapis, wait; look out!" But was too late in her warning as the chain dragged across the square, setting off the trap.

"Too late," Dox said flipping his face down to reveal a monster, "She has awakened my beast, Jirai Gumo!" Abyssturge and 7 Colored Fish moved back, startled as the monster revealed itself to be a giant dark orange and black spider with pointed legs.

 **Jirai Gumo. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: INSECT/EFFECT. Lv: 4. ATK/DEF: 2200/100**

In the observation room, all four Crystal Gems tensed with wide, alarmed eyes at the new creature, a sense of foreboding, as well as slightly amusement twitching at them as Stephanie paled a snowy white with wide, dilated eyes. They all quickly covered their ears, much to Pegasus and Croquet's confusion.

"Sp-Sp-Sp-Sp-Sp-Sp-!" Stephanie spluttered voice hitching, catching both male item wielders' attention as her mind blanked:

 _Flashback:_

 _Four-year-old Stephanie Quartz-Universe giggled and clapped her hands happily as Big Brother Sour Cream made two of her dolls dance. It brought a smile to her face, watching her female doll with the short pink hair and darker pink dress play with the slightly smaller male doll with long wild-looking brown hair in a black shirt and jeans._

 _Nine-year-old Sour Cream laughed as well as he rose his voice to make something of a feminine cry for the story he was using the dolls for, before a rumbling made him pause and stumble for a moment. Confused, both kids turned in the direction they heard shouting and yelling, along with loud, heavy stomps._

 _That was all the warning they got before a huge green spider with a gemstone in its abdomen broke through a wall. Making them both scream in fright._

 _End of flashback._

Meanwhile, back at the beach, Sour Cream had finally recovered from his little melt down and had rejoined the fight. He was currently raising up torrents of water and repeatedly freezing jets of them into more crude ice spears, chucking them at the robots as he, surprisingly, sang as he hit his targets:

 _ **One little, two little, three little thug-bots~**_

 _ **Four little, five little, six little thug-bots~**_

 _ **Seven little, eight little, nine little thug-bots~**_

 _ **And I'd love to shove a spear down Pegasus' a-!**_

But he suddenly stopped with a mix of a startled jerk and shiver, yelping in surprise, "Waaah-haha!" Before squeaking in confusion, "Eh?" He let the torrents drop back harmlessly into the sea and looked around in confusion.

"Something wrong, Cream?" Kevin asked over the com upon noticing the halt of raining icicles. "Hey Jen, Buck, did you feel that?" Sour Cream ignored him and asked instead. "Big sibling sense going off?" Jenny guessed over the com ducking a baton aimed at her face. "Yeah, I'm getting that 'little sibling is getting scared to death' vibe all of sudden," Sour Cream answered scratching his head in confusion, "But none of those pieces of junk actually got in," He then shrugged, "Must've been a false alarm."

Back at the duel, Bakura asked, "You okay, Steph?"

"SP-SP-SP-SP-!" Stephanie stammer a little louder, turning ghostly pale as she stared at Jirai Gumo. "She okay?" Tristan asked in concern. "I don't-" Peridot began to reply.

"SPIIIIIIIIIIIIIDEEEEEEEEEEEERRRR!" Came the scream that made even the twins and all the monsters jump, made Tea, Tristan, Bakura and Peridot cover their ears, along with Pegasus and Croquet, and made the captive Gems chuckle and giggle at their captors' misfortune.

Without warning, Stephanie leaped onto Yami's back, making him yelp and choke at the sudden death grip around his waist from her legs and her arms around his neck as she clung to him in fear as she shrieked, "SPIDER!" He would've fallen backwards had Jasper not grabbed him by one of his flailing arms, "SPIDER! SOMEONE GET RID OF IT!" The twins, Bismuth and Lapis, and their monsters all sweat-dropped, Jirai Gumo looking rather put off by her reaction.

"Seriously?" Tea asked in disbelief as she slowly peeled back her hands, watching the girl shake like a leaf, teeth chattering almost comically from fear, "After bugs, killer fish, harpies and zombies, _this_ is what she's afraid of?" Joey, Tristan, Jasper and Peridot just shrugged.

Yami didn't say a word, too busy blushing up a storm from having her bust more or less squished up against his back from how tightly she was clinging to him, but at the same time made no move to get her off him.

"Um, fend him off...Abyssturge...?" Lapis said weakly with a waving motion of her hand, trying to placate her terrified friend.

"She's too weak," Dox informed her as he and Para recovered from the shock of Stephanie's reaction, "For Jirai Gumo reduces your Mermail Abyssturge's attack points back to its original seventeen hundred." The giant spider shot a web at Abyssturge, who tried to shield herself with her harpoon, which in turn got knocked out of her hands, reducing her power.

 **Mermail Abyssturge. ATK/DEF: 1700/1100**

Lapis gasped with wide eyes, "But that means she's done for!" As if on cue, Jirai Gumo lunged for Abyssturge.

"EEK!" Stephanie yelped covering her eyes, frightened and shaking, "I can't watch, someone tell me when its over!"

Jirai Gumo bit down into Abyssturge's lower back when she tried to dodge, destroying her. "Its over," Jasper informed the hybrid, who peered between her fingers, only to yelp and cover her eyes again, correcting herself, "I MEAN TELL ME WHEN THE SPIDER IS GONE!" She shivered, despite the hand patting her head in comfort and the much larger one on her back, rubbing it also in comfort.

"And four hundred of Miss Lazuli's life points are also gone," Para said as Lapis' life points dropped.

 **Lapis LPs: 1600**

"She walked right into that one," Tristan winced. "Oi, that coulda happened tah anyone!" Joey said in Lapis' defense, "'N' they coulda hide that spider-" Stephanie squeaked at the 's' word, "On any square!"

"That's just the beginning," Dox continued, "Labyrinth Tank advanced seven more spaces," His tank did as told, moving further into the maze until it was literally right behind Jirai Gumo, he then set a card face down, "And I will also place one more card in defense mode."

"Oh not going to give us a hint about what it is?" Lapis quipped sarcastically, making the brothers smirk. "You have enough to worry about, mu Jirai Gumo is within striking range of your 7 Colored Fish," Dox informed her, making the Sea Gem glare at him, "Soon it will be all over for him next turn, then you can see what else I have in store."

 _'Thank stars its Bismuth's turn,'_ Lapis thought as the rainbow-haired Gem drew.

"Now I think its time for a counter attack," Bismuth remarked as she picked a card to play, "And I will play Discordious** Box in combination with my Luster Dragon."

Everyone watched as a large stone box appeared before Luster Dragon, covered in holes and the Arms of Chaos imprinted all over it. Luster Dragon smirked as he climbed into it. Without warning, dozens of swords and spears materialized out nowhere and shot into the holes, appearing to have slain Luster Dragon.

"She's gone mad, sacrificing her own dragon and for what?" Dox asked before noticing something strange. Jirai Gumo yelped as a stone slab slid under it, followed by four more dropping out the sky out of thin air, forming another box arount. Before Jirai Gumo had a chance to try and climb out, another slab fell down into place as a lid, trapping it inside, much like a pre-historic tomb.

"What is this, another box around my Jirai Gumo?" Dox said in confusion before the first box literally fell apart, revealing his spider monster was the one impaled by the numerous weapons, "My spider is skewered, but how?"

"Skewered?" Stephanie questioned, "Its gone?" She peeked between her fingers just in time to see it because a cloud of data and sighed in relief, her grip on Yami relaxing, to his own relief, "Oh thank stars..."

"Yeah, so...do you wanna get of Yami's back now or...?" Tea prompted much to Stephanie's confusion. "Off who's back now?" Was the hybrid's reply, making Tea face-palm, before Yami cleared his throat, making her blink and finally notice just who she jumped on. Yelping and blushing darkly, she quickly jumped off and said apologetically, "Geez, Yami, I am **_so_** _sorry!_ "

Yami rubbed his neck, still blushing a bit himself as he assured, "No, no, its fine; you're lighter than air, I'd take a bear hug from you any day!" Realizing how that sounded he cringed and tried to amend, "Er, I mean, you're surprisingly light for being half a sentient rock!" He winced at how that sounded arguably worse, "I-I-I-I mean, bah!" He face palmed, practically able to melt a glacier, his face felt so hot.

Stephanie giggled nervously in response and began to fiddle with her fingers, a little surprised to see Jasper was too far to have been the large hand on her back before. Amethyst was trying hard to cover her laughter at the scene as was Sapphire, Ruby looked torn between laughing as well and being protective of her little quartz, while Pearl just huffed.

Back with the duel, the Paradox Brothers were too busy being flabbergasted and stunned by what just happened with their monster.

"And her dragon is...unharmed!" Para added in shock as the second box crumbled away to reveal Luster Dragon completely unharmed. "Its called Discordious for a reason, the box bends reality, allowing my dragon to pull a little switch with your Jirai Gumo," Bismuth smiled widely, before holding up another card, "Next I activate **_my_** trap card the Castle of Dragon Souls."

Mist rolled across Bismuth's part of the field as a fortress of sorts rose from the ground, looming ominously next to the labyrinth, like something out of a horror-fantasy movie. It sent a shiver up not just the humans' spines.

"And, prey-tell, does _that_ do?" Dox asked. "Its actually rather simple," Bismuth explained with a shrug, "By banishing a single dragon from my graveyard, I can increase one of my monster's attack points by seven hundred points for the remainder of my turn."

"But-but you only have one dragon in your graveyard!" Para said with wide eyes realizing what she was likely going to do as she removed Different Dimension Dragon from her graveyard. "Funny how things work out, huh?" Bismuth chuckled as she sent the card into her gemstone for save keeping.

Instantly, a milky-white mist emerged from her fortress, forming into the spirit of Different Dimension Dragon, which soared over the labyrinth before diving at Luster Dragon melding and becoming one with the larger dragon. Instantly, Luster Dragon grew pale green crystals across the outside of its forearms and legs, releasing a roar as it gained a power boost.

 **Luster Dragon #2. ATK/DEF: 3100/1400**

"Luster Dragon attack the Labyrinth Tank!" Bismuth ordered and with a swipe of its claws, Luster Dragon reduced Labyrinth Tank to pieces of scrap metal before bursting into bits of data. This made Dox growl as his life points dropped.

 **Dox: 1300**

"Yes!" Ruby and Amethyst cheered at their friend's victory.

"We might have been on opposite sides at one point," Bismuth stated, "But now, Lapis and I can over come any challenge you clowns throw at us!"

"Couldn't have said it better myself," Lapis smiled at her tag team partner.

Meanwhile, outside the castle, Kaiba and Kemo had arrived at a secret entrance.

"You have clearance," Kaiba told the thug, "Now open the door."

"Don't you think we should knock first?" Kemo asked smugly. "I think you should shut your trap and open the damn door!" Kaiba snapped in response in no mood for his attitude. Kemo simply scoffed before pressing his hand to a panel, which beeped before the door slid open.

"Sneaking up on Pegasus is next to impossible," Kemo stated as they walked through the secret passage, "He probably already knows you're here somehow." Kaiba didn't respond.

Speaking of Pegasus, he was currently sipping at a re-filled glass of wine when his Millennium Eye glowed from behind the curtain of hair that hid it, causing him to sit up, getting the Crystal Gems' attention. He pressed a button at the end of one of his chair's arm-rests, causing a second screen to the side of the room to pull up video feed of Mokuba still in the cell, looking at his own duel monster card shaped locket with a picture of a much younger Seto Kaiba in it at a chessboard smiling warmly at the camera. Pegasus then turned back to the screen of the tag-team duel.

"Alright ya bald bozos!" Joey grinned, "You two are about to lose."

"Of your friends you think too much," Dox commented before turning to his twin, "Show them brother our lucky touch."

As Para drew his next card, it signaled the end of Bismuth's, causing Luster Dragon to lose its crystals as it power level returned to normal.

 **Luster Dragon #2. ATK/DEF: 2400/1400**

Para looked at his new card and grinned. Lapis instantly felt wary, _'I really don't like the way those two are smiling right now.'_

 _'Sanga of Thunder is one of three gods that controls thunder, wind and water,'_ Para thought contemplatively, _'The remaining two cards Sujin God of Water and Kazejin God of Wind; if our luck holds two more turns, we can combine them to summon the Gate Guardian,'_ He placed a card face down as he said, "I place this card face-down to end my turn."

Strangely a simple, almost coffin-like wine red box appeared on Para's field with metallic gold accenting with a matching circular crest with the kanji for 'thunder' on the lid. The weird part was that it was chained up.

"Intriguing, eh?" Dox asked with a smirk. "Now what are they up to?" Bismuth wondered to Lapis, who shrugged. "I honestly have no clue," Lapis replied drawing her next card, "But something tells me we're going to eventually find out," She then ordered, "Now, 7 Colored Fish, move four more spaces towards the end of the maze." Obediently, her rainbow-colored eel advanced further, passing Luster Dragon by a space.

 _'I cannot allow them to reach the end of the maze before we have assembled all the pieces of the guardian,'_ Dox thought as he drew, before grinning, speaking aloud, "It appears I have doubled our delights." He placed a card face down, causing another identical box to appear, also chained up. The difference was that the crest was blue with the kanji for 'water' in the middle.

 _'Those symbols look familiar...why are they familiar?'_ Stephanie thought to herself, scratching her head in confusion, _'Hmm, they must be like Exodia in some way, otherwise they would've summoned them properly instead of like that,'_ She sighed with a little shrug, _'I wish Sour Cream, Buck, Jenny and Lars were here...wait,'_ Her eyes narrowed in thought, _'Why does thinking of them make me feel like I forgot about something?'_ She tapped her cheek in thought but shrugged one more, _'Meh, probably wasn't important.'_

"I now play my hidden card," Dox said flipping one of his face-downs over, "Dungeon Worm, I command you to return to the surface in attack mode."

A giant orange earth worm that look like it came straight out of the movie _'Tremors'_ emerged from underground on Dox's side of the field. It had a ring of blue eyes right beneath its gaping mouth and at least three rows of teeth.

 **Dungeon Worm. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: INSECT. Lv: 5. ATK/DEF: 1800/1500**

"And I will empower my monster with Invigoration," Dox continued, "Which raises its attack by five hundred." It got bigger and stronger.

 **Dungeon Worm. ATK/DEF: 2300/1500**

"Gross!" Tea gagged. "Eek!" Stephanie yelped this time ducking behind Yami instead of jumping on him. "You're scared of worms too?" Tristan asked in surprise. "Just ones that look like it came out of a horror movie with a giant mouth full of razor teeth!" Stephanie replied shivering as she peeked over Yami's shoulder, "First demon spiders, now giant monster worms, what's next? A freaking frog?"

"You're afraid of frogs?" Joey asked in disbelief. "Hey, they're slimy, they eat bugs and they can jump!" Stephanie said in her own defense, "In sort, keep them the hell away from me!" She huffed, puffing her cheeks childishly, much to their amusement.

"Do not worry, this duel will end soon," Dox assured before instructing, "Dungeon Worm, burrow into the earth and attack!" His worm began to burrow back underground, making everyone tense as it disappeared, watching anxiously for which monster it would attack.

Stephanie shrieked in fright as it emerged from under Bismuth's Winged-Dragon, grabbing the startled blue dragon in its maw and destroying it. "Winged Guardian...!" Tristan said in shock as Bismuth's life points dropped.

 **Bismuth LPs: 700**

"This ain't fair," Joey said, "That maze gives them all the advantages."

"That's right," Para said smirking, "No one escapes the labyrinth."

"Bismuth, I hope you have something that can turn things around," Lapis said to her duel partner, who nodded and drew.

"And I think I have just the thing," Bismuth smiled, "Starting by activating my Castle of Dragon Souls, banishing my Winged-Dragon to increasing Luster Dragon's attack again by seven hundred." Returning her blue dragon's card to her gemstone, Winged-Dragon's soul wisped around her castle before merging with Luster Dragon, who regained its crystals.

 **Luster Dragon. ATK/DEF: 3100/1400**

"Now I play the magic card Magical Stone Eggs," Bismuth said with a smile as two large stone eggs decorated identically with Norse runes appeared and covered both Luster Dragon and 7 Colored Fish. One of the eggs moved towards the other and two more appear, one in front of the first one and another behind the second one, forming a straight line.

"The eggs are multiplying," Dox said in shock, "Hiding both their monsters."

"That should confuse that giant worm of theirs," Lapis smiled at Bismuth's cunning.

From the observatory, Pearl and Sapphire were silently applauding Bismuth's combo while Amethyst and Ruby were quietly cheering, the red Gem clapping. Pegasus just rolled his eye in amusement.

"And the Dungeon Worm's attack is only twenty-three hundred, while Luster Dragon's is thirty-one hundred until my next turn or I say other wise," Bismuth smirked, "So if their worm attacks the wrong egg, all it'll do is destroy itself."

"Its just like my Magical Hats," Yami commented mostly to himself. "But with stone eggs instead of magician hats," Tristan added. "Plus, it defends 7 Colored Fish at the same time," Bakura tacked on, "Because with Luster Dragon laying in wait with the power boost for the remainder of the round, its too risky for the Dungeon Worm to attack."

"If only your friend's plan is as foolproof as you all might think," Para said with a chuckle, drawing his next card, "Monster Tamer, I summon you."

Stephanie gasped in surprise at the familiar red-clad, Arabian-themed human man that Para summoned, _'That's the same monster Pegasus used against me in our duel!'_

 **Monster Tamer. ATK/DEF: 1800/1600**

"And what does that monster do?" Lapis asked looking back and forth between her group and the twins.

"Simply put, the Monster Tamer allows me to take control of one of my brother's monsters as if it were my own," Para explained as Monster Tamer cracked his whip, making many flinch at the sound, "And it also strengths the Dungeon Worm's attack points by one thousand***."

 **Dungeon Worm. ATK/DEF: 3300/1400**

 _'Now its stronger then Luster Dragon,'_ Bismuth realized with furrowed eyes. "Now Monster Tamer command my brother's Dungeon Worm to attack one of the Magical Stone Eggs," Para commanded and everyone held their breaths until the Dungeon Worm broke one of the stone eggs, revealing it to be empty.

"Oh stars that was too close," Lapis remarked in relief, before drawing her own card as Para ended his turn, "Now its my turn and time for me and 7 Colored Fish to turn things around," She pressed one of the buttons on her console, causing her fish to burst out from its stone egg, making everyone shout in protest, "Trust me, I know what to do, I play the card known as Khione's**** Gift."

The brothers gasped in shock as the silhouette of a woman in a Greek goddess dress made of snow appeared rushing through the maze before reaching 7 Colored Fish and emerging with it, causing its coloring to pale.

"You know, if there's one thing I learned about living at a farm is that just like the crops, insects are pretty fragile things," Lapis remarked matter of factly, "They can't survive in extreme heat or cold, no matter how much they evolve," She smirked, "Since Khione's Gift grants my monsters ice powers as well as an attack boost, it also nullify any power boosts your Tamer may grant it, since no worm no matter its size is immune to the cold." She smiled wickedly as her fish's power increased and their worm's decreased.

 **7 Colored Fish. ATK/DEF: 2500/800**

 **Dungeon Worm. ATK/DEF: 2300/1400**

"Now go!" Lapis ordered, "Sheer Blizzard Blast!" Her eel reared its head back before breathing a massive gust of wind and snow down the hole after the Dungeon Worm.

"Where is it going?" Para demanded before the Dungeon Worm came back up frozen solid.

For a moment everyone just stared, stunned, before the frozen worm broke into pieces in defeat. "Alright, Lapis!" Joey cheered as Para's life points dropped.

 **Para LPs: 1500**

"Excellent move Lapis," Yami praised. "More like awesome!" Bismuth added making Lapis' face turn a noticeable plum purple, clearly flattered.

"Brother, you must draw the card we need," Para told his twin. "Indeed," Dox agreed before drawing his next card, he then smirked, "The third piece." Which made Yami and Stephanie narrowed their eyes.

"The third piece combined with the other two shall now create..." Para began. "A monster that will..." Dox started. "Annihilate!" The brothers finished together.

"Against the..." Para began. "Trinity," Dox added. "They can't defend," Para continued. "All their life points we will rend," Dox finished. "Summon Kazejin God of Wind," They said together as Dox summoned one more box, which was also chained up with a green crest and the kanji for 'wind' in the center of it. All three boxes began to shake violently.

"What's going on?" Tea said in shock as the boxes opened, shooting up red beams of light into the air, which then began to form a rather mechnaical looking monster, its torso was yellow and orange, its abdomen was green and its waist and legs were blue, the crests on each of its different colored parts.

"Elements of thunder, water and wind; Suijin, Sanga and Kazejin begin," The brothers chanted, "Meld your power in eternal light; show these fools your unstoppable might." Bismuth and Lapis both took an instinctively half-step back as the monster finished materializing, looks of shock on their faces.

"He is pain beyond description," Para said. "He'll mark the graves with your inscription," Para added. "Gate Guardian!" They shouted together as their monster finished forming, standing intimidatingly on their field.

 **Gate Guardian. Attribute: DARK. Tribe: WARRIOR/EFFECT. Lv: 11. ATK/DEF: 3750/3400**

"Oh man..." Joey said in shocked-worry, "How are Bismuth 'n' Lapis suppose tah defeat that?"

"They cannot," Para replied. "Against our Gate Guardian..." Dox added. "They cannot win," The brothers said together once more.

 _'I hope that's not true,'_ Stephanie thought in concern, _'We've come too far to stop here.'_

* * *

 **And done, must admit I was concerned about where this chapter's conflict was going to go in concern to back at Beach City as I wasn't sure how to pace the battle or how to actually put it together. I'm pretty confident with how this turned out, let me know what you guys all think.**

 **Now, on to the notes in the chapter:**

 **Lazuli*: Now look, I know its a pretty big debate on what Fluorite's components are as there hasn't been much of a for sure hint, but its a really strong speculation that at least one if a Peridot since three our triangular in shape similar to our Peridot's gem, which I clearly support as anything's possible with her. With the amount of research comparing both real world facts with Steven Universe facts, is that Lapis are more commonly cut in the cabachon style as seen with Sour Cream and our Lapis' gems while pearls are kinda self explanatory. Plus, Fluorite's own steven-universe fandom wiki page states that the smooth cabachon-like gemstone in her chest is similar to Blue and Yellow Pearls' gems, so I find it more likely that Fluorite has a Pearl component rather than a Lapis Lazuli component. Let me know what you guys think.**

 **Discordius**: Basically a play on the word 'discord', need I say more?**

 **Thousand***: I kinda had to tweek things to a considerable bit to work with how I had changed things in regards to the duel.**

 **Khione****: The Greek Goddess of Snow, just thought a card like that would be an arguable fit for Lapis' deck, let me know what you guys think.**

 **Now, I went back to re-tally the votes for the three polls, who should win the title, if Steph should get a God card and which one, since there hasn't been any new votes and I wanted to be sure about the last count:**

 **King: 7 to Queen: 2, so it looks like people like the idea of continuity of Yugi keeping his title.**

 **Yes, Stephanie should get a God Card: 3 to No, Stephanie should not get a God Card: 6, again people like the idea of continuity.**

 **Obelisk: 2, Ra: 1 and Slifer: 0, again everyone loves the Big Bad Blue and no one is giving poor Slifer any love, ah well.**

 **Till next everyone!**


	19. Chapter 19

**In fear of sounding like a broken record: I do not own Steven Universe or any of its original characters nor do I own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of its original characters, I can say, however, that I do own Stephanie, her yami and all OCs I chose to make, including original Crystal Beasts, i.e. Bismuth Beaver, and other original cards. If I _did_ own Steven Universe, trust me, things would've been a lot different and if I own Yu-Gi-Oh there would've been a way for Atem to stay and have all his memories.**

 **Last time, Bismuth and Lapis had turned the duel against the Paradox Brothers into their favor when the twins summoned their acer, the Gate Guardian, Kaiba has gotten into Pegasus' castle and the Cool Kids, Lars, Kevin and Jamie figured out Pegasus' makeshift army is just robots.**

 **foxchick1: Had to really think about what would get someone like Steven/Stephanie frightened, so I kinda winged it, I mean, those Tremor worms give me the creeps so, yeah.**

 **flying ducks101: Well, plenty of time before Battle City.**

 **Lady Twilight Prime: Again, kinda had to pick things so random they kinda work. I was laughing as I wrote that part too, I can just imagine how red Yami's face was. As for Yugi and Steph fusing the idea had bounced in my head and spoiler, it is going to happen...just not during Duelist Kingdom, but before Battle City.**

 **Now without further ado, let's get on with the chapter, shall we?**

* * *

Within the labyrinth duel arena, the group of humans and Gems stared at the large monster the Paradox had summoned.

 _'This...is not...good,'_ Lapis thought warily, _'According to this, the Gate Guardian has the attack and defense points of all three monsters they used to summon it.'_ As she looked at the console. she saw it did in fact, have three different sets of attack and defense points from each different monster that now made up its legs, abdomen and torso/head.

 **Sanga of the Thunder. ATK/DEF: 2600/2200**

 **Suigin. ATK/DEF: 2500/2400**

 **Kazejin. ATK/DEF: 2400/2200**

"That monster is three guys in one," Joey said in concern, "How are Lapis and Bismuth suppose to beat that thing?"

"This doesn't look good," Tristan added in concern as well. "Don't be so downbeat," Bakura said to them, "If they don't beat that thing we're never getting out of here."

"Gee, thanks," Peridot remarked sarcastically, "That makes me feel _**so**_ much better." Bakura smiled sheepishly.

"Don't worry Peri," Lapis assured with a smile, "We can beat that thing easy."

"You must be cracked," Para told the sea Gem in amusement. "No one has ever gotten past the Gate Guardian," Dox informed her also amused.

"He is composed of three parts," Para explained as their monster loomed ominously over the labyrinth, "Each controlling an elemental force."

"You will never get past his combined power," Dox taunted. "You will wonder the labyrinth," Para added. "For all eternity!" The brothers said in unison.

"You will two seriously stop that already?" Lapis snapped, "Somehow, some way, Bismuth and I will beat you!"

"She's right, nothing you have can beat the power of two combined Gems," Bismuth agreed, "Now make your move already!" The brothers shared a glance and laughed.

Meanwhile, somewhere in one of the seemingly endless tunnels under the island, Kemo was leading Kaiba down on the torch-lit corridors as the CEO warned, "You better not be leading me in circles."

"These tunnels are honeycombed throughout the entire island," Kemo replied, "If you didn't have me around to guide you, you could end up lost down here for years." His smug grin only lasted a few seconds until Kaiba, angered by the taunt, spun him around and held him by his necktie.

"Don't go getting any ideas," Kaiba warned. "You only took me down last time because you had the drop on me," Kemo stated arrogantly, "If things were even, I'd knock you clean out."

"I'd like to see you try before I dropped you where you stand," Kaiba retorted before letting go of the thug, "Take me to Mokuba, stop wasting my time." Kemo said nothing as he straightened out his tie before walking off with Kaiba right behind him.

"This is as far as we go," Kemo stated after a few minutes of walking, stopping as he stepped on a specific rock, which sank under his foot setting off an alarm, which angered Kaiba, "If you want to find your brother I suggest you hurry before reinforcements arrive."

 _'Hold on Mokuba,'_ Kaiba thought as he ran past Kemo down the corridor, _'I'm almost there.'_

 _'Seto, where are you?'_ Mokuba wondered as he sat in his cell, holding his picture close, _'I hope your close.'_

"Mokuba!" Kaiba's voice called out, catching Mokuba's attention. "Seto!" Mokuba said in surprise as he got up and moved closer to the bars.

In the observation room, Pegasus was watching the tag team duel as the Crystal Gems silently cheered their comrades on, sipping on a glass of wine when Croquet re-entered the room, speaking, "Sir, we have a situation." Pegasus sighed as the Crystal Gems looked over, Pearl being the most suspicious and guarded.

"Kaiba has found his way into the tunnels under the island and is close to finding his brother, correct?" Pegasus asked stunning his employee into a stunned silence and slightly awing Sapphire, Ruby and Amethyst with his accuracy, Pearl however narrowed her eyes in suspicion, "I see I was right once again," Pegasus shifted in his chair as he set his glass down and took out the pink sphere again, gaze focused on it, "I will deal with the Kaiba brothers, Seto was not apart of my original plan, but I think I know of a way I can get some enjoyment out of this."

He pocketed the sphere before standing, he then walked over to the Crystal Gems who all tensed, but his focus was on Pearl, who glared at him in anger. He grabbed onto the her chain and began pulling, making Pearl yelp as it extended until a little crystal ball, much like the iron balls attached to feet shackles emerged from her gemstone, which Pegasus easily caught before it could start to fall.

Pearl rubbed her gemstone before looking up at Pegasus with uncertainty in her eyes as he ordered, "Follow me."

"Leave her alone!" Ruby snapped. "Ruby!" Sapphire warned. "Yeah, creepazoid, pick on someone who-!" Amethyst started but she and Ruby screamed as they were shocked once more before poofing. Pearl looked at her two comrades with wide eyes before getting to her feet, begrudingly following Pegasus out as he held onto the ball-end of the chain like a leash as Sapphire watched in concern.

Meanwhile, back at the beach in Beach City, each hybrid warrior was down to small groups of what was left of the thug-bots, Lars having ordered the twins and Fluorite's Peridot to hold on their fire unless on of the robots got too close.

"We were actually afraid of these things?" Buck scoffed as he sent ripped off a robot's arms with his whips, "These things are worse then Sour Cream's imitations!"

Sour Cream paused in chucking spears as he registered these words and got red in the face out of anger as he shouted, "HEY!"

"BURN BABY, BURN!" Jenny cheered as she burned two bots at once with streams of fire, before manically laughing as they boom. Lars sighed at this, shaking his head as he remarked, "Memo to me, schedule another session with Jenny." He then cut an on coming thug-bot clean in half with his sword before surging forward to plunge it through the chest of another.

Kevin breathed in as he sent another bot flying with a swing of his mallet before turning to check on Jamie, only to see another coming up behind the smaller brunette, making him cry out, "Jamie behind you!" Lars and Jamie turned, but the brunette was only able to lean back enough to avoid the knife it wiped at him, but wasn't able to avoid a shallow cut to the cheek.

Jamie was able to recover fast enough to spin out of another reach, slicing the arms of both thug-bots clean off before impaling the one who had cut him with one sword, then cutting off its head. Spinning, he then kicked the other thug-bot away before backflipping away and landing by Kevin's side in a low crouch.

"You okay?" Kevin asked in concern. "I've had worser cuts, I'm fine," Jamie assured in a rather voided voice, clearly unfazed by the stinging cut, which only worried Kevin more.

But just as he prepared to strike the next thug-bot, Lars intercepted cutting it clean in half. Turning to face the on coming wave of thug-bots, he took a deep breath before releasing a powerful yell, creating a dark pink sonic scream. The robots were all sent flying into the water, where Sour Cream, upon noticing, willed the water around them to raise and form a reverse wave, sending them further into the ocean.

Turning, he ordered, "Regroup, _now_." They both nodded without complaint before battling their way over to Jenny and Buck.

Though, Kevin did ask the smaller brunette, "Did you know he could do that?" Jamie glanced at him after slashing a robot, but didn't answer as they continued moving through the battlefield.

Back at the duel, Lapis turned to her tag-team partner, "Its your move Bismuth." Bismuth nodded in response and drew her next card.

"Nothing I have right now is strong enough to defeat that monster," Bismuth said somewhat resigned before setting down two cards, "I can only play these."

"What a waste of a turn, you should have surrendered while you had the chance," Para commented before commanding, "Gate Guardian destroy 7 Colored Fish with Thunderstroke Attack!" Gate Guardian charged its electrical attack before firing a beam of yellow and purple energy at Lapis' fish monster.

"7 Colored Fish is about to be fish-fried!" Joey cried in worry. "Are you proud of that one?" Tea asked the blonde, who shrugged.

"Bismuth if you have a plan now would be a great time to use it," Lapis commented tensing as the attack got closer to her fish.

"Your monster has been destroyed," Para said when it seemed 7 Colored Fish was going to be destroyed. "Not this turn," Bismuth stated flipping one of her cards over, "Go, Dracoforce Reflect!" At the last second, the attack hit a barrier that glowed an orangey color before sending the attack right back at the Gate Guardian.

"Gate Guardian defend yourself with Squall Barricade," Para countered and the middle of Gate Guardian blew a wall of wind, defending itself and deflecting the attack. "Our monster has not been felled," Dox stated confidently. "You've been repelled," Para added with a smirk.

"Maybe," Bismuth said with a calm smirk and shrug of her shoulders, "But you've reflected your attack right at your Monster Tamer." Sure enough, the attack had been rebounded but it went straight at Para's Monster Tamer, destroying it, making Para growl as his life points drop.

 **Para LPs: 900**

"Lucky move," Dox said through gritted teeth. "Luck has nothing to do with it," Lapis huffed as she drew.

"Lapis, wait, don't make your move yet," Bismuth told her, getting the former Blue Court Gem's attention, "Joey said it himself, the Gate Guardian is made out of three separate monsters by combining them, like fusion," She ignored the blue Gem's slight discomfort at the 'f' word, "Maybe that's the key to beating it."

"You mean like beating it each component at a time?" Lapis pondered aloud making Bismuth nod, "Not a bad plan and its not like we have much other options," She then ordered her fish, "7 Colored Fish use the magic of Khione's Gift and attack the midsection!" Her fish breathed another blast of icy wind, but a wall of water rose up, defending Gate Guardian as it froze instead, breaking once the attack was through.

Lapis stared in shock, "What?"

"You fool, attack one section and the others will defend," Dox explained, "Now it is my turn, Gate Guardian will lay waste to you, Tidal Surge Attack!" Another wall of water rose up and became a gush of rushing water that surged through the entire maze.

"My fish is out in the open!" Lapis said in worry as the remaining two stone eggs as well as her 7 Colored Fish were washed away, her life points dropping as a result.

 **Lapis LPs: 1300**

"The lead is ours," Dox said with a smirk. "Not for long it won't," Bismuth stated as she drew and smiled as she got an idea, recalling a particular dragon that could pull things into their favor, "For now, I play this card face down and summon Fairy Dragon in attack mode."

The monster she summoned was much like Different Dimension Dragon in design, having no back legs nor did it have foreclaws with a smooth hide that was colored a bright deep shade green with a single pair of bat-like wings and a big pair of magenta pink eyes and little cat-like ears. The only off-setting factor, was the fact it was rather small, easily the size of a hatchling.

 **Fairy Dragon. Attribute: WIND. Tribe: DRAGON. Lv: 4. ATK/DEF: 1100/1200**

For a moment, the area was silent until the brothers started chuckling. "Ugh, is she for real?" Joey asked unsure of Bismuth's choice.

"You must be joking," Para remarked. "That dragon might have been a threat...if it weren't a hatchling," Dox added much to Fairy Dragon's irritation. Lapis' eyes widened in recognition, realizing what Bismuth was setting up for.

"Be that as it may, my dragon doesn't have to be all that strong when the stage has already been set," Bismuth replied calmly making the brothers' eyes widen in shock, "Fairy Dragon is a dragon of wind and storms, which includes electrical storms..."

"The water," Stephanie said in realization, getting everyone's attention, "She's going to use the water as one large conductor to double Fairy Dragon's attack so it'll destroy the Suijin part with its own element."

"Awesome!" Tristan cheered with a wide grin, "Light 'em up, Bismuth!" It was a grin that Bismuth returned full ferocity.

"Believe me, with pleasure," Bismuth replied before ordering, "Fairy Dragon aim at the water with Magical Lightning Breath!" Electricity crackled at Fairy Dragon's mouth as it charged its attack as it reared its head. It launched a pale green blast of electricity which began to travel along the water, picking up speed and building up in size and in power as it went and got closer to the Gate Guardian.

"You fool," Dox said, "Have you forgotten about the mighty defenses of the Gate Guardian? Ones which we shall activate now."

But imagine the brothers' shock when nothing happened and their Gate Guardian stood still.

"Why so surprised?" Bismuth asked in amusement, "When your Gate Guardian washed away two of my Magical Stone Eggs, it activated a trap I had laying in wait under one of them."

"What trap?" Dox asked in shock as Bismuth flipped her remaining face down card to reveal her trap card. "My Venomous Volcanic Flare," Bismuth replied as spouts of toxic fumes shot up from the ground around Gate Guardian, making it groan as purplist marks appeared all over, "Not only does it knock down some of your Guardian's power, but it also leaves it open to Fairy Dragon's attack." Sure enough, from the environmental changes, but monsters' attack power changed.

 **Fairy Dragon. ATK/DEF: 2200/1200**

 **Suijin. ATK/DEF: 2000/2400**

 **Kazejin. ATK/DEF: 1900/2200**

 **Sanga. ATK/DEF: 2100/2200**

"In short," Lapis smirked, "Pay back time!" The lightning attack hit home and destroyed the Suijin part of the Gate Guardian, making her cheer, "One piece down, two more to go!" Dox frowned at her as his life points dropped and Fairy Dragon's attack returned to normal.

 **Dox LPs: 1100**

 **Fairy Dragon. ATK/DEF: 1100/1200**

"Yeah!" Tea, Joey, Tristan and Peridot cheered as Stephanie and Yami shared a grin, Jasper and Bakura grinned as well.

"You go Bismuth," Sapphire said softly from Pegasus' observation room while looking over Amethyst and Ruby's gemstones.

"All the water is disappearing too," Stephanie noted, "It seems that taking Suijin out the equation also took the water away."

"Our Gate Guardian is only damaged, not defeated," Para stated before playing a spell card, "Now for the magic card, Remove Trap," The spouts of toxins slowly disappeared as the marks on Gate Guardian glowed blue before disappearing, "Ha, you see, even without Suijin our monster is still unbeatable." The remaining two pieces regained their original attack points now that they've been cleansed of the volcanic fumes from Bismuth's trap card.

 **Kazejin. ATK/DEF: 2400/2200**

 **Sanga. ATK/DEF: 2600/2200**

"What's the expression you humans use?" Lapis questioned, "Don't count eggs before they break?" Joey, Yami, Tristan, Bakura, Tea and Stephanie all chuckled at the butchered phrase as the Sea Gem drew her next card, "No _single_ monster maybe able to take that thing down, but our teamwork will," She then summoned a new monster, "I call Amazon of the Seas!"

Her new monster was another mermaid, but she wasn't as fancy or decked out in armor like her Mermail was, in fact, she was rather simple in comparison. She had peachy human skin with a chartreuse-green tail with teal green fins, matching the fins she had for ears and the cropped tank top she wore. She had long, wavy sky blue hair that fell in a wavy waterfall that ended in delicate curls and her eyes were narrowed-shaped and a mischievous golden yellow.

 **Amazon of the Seas. Attribute: WATER. Tribe: FISH. Lv: 4. ATK/DEF: 1300/1400**

Jasper quirked her lips in amusement to Lapis' monster, eyes shining with interest as she mused, "Amazon, huh?"

"And now I will combine Lapis' Amazon and the Zone Eater in her hand with my Fairy Dragon," Bismuth said as she revealed a familiar spell card, a wicked smile on her face, "I use the magic card Polymerization."

"A combo!" The brothers gasped in shock as Peridot, Jasper and Stephanie gasped as well, eyes wide in surprise, even the watching Sapphire was startled as Lapis summoned a second monster to the field as a consequence of the tri-fusion.

It was another large worm like monster that looked like it emerged from a horror movie with its open maw full of teeth. The difference between it and the Dungeon Worm was its color, as this one was a mix of red and green, and it looked more scaly and bumpy in its skin texture.

 **Zone Eater. Attribute: WATER. Tribe: AQUA/EFFECT. Lv: 1. ATK/DEF: 250/200**

"EEK!" Stephanie cried latching onto Yami again, making him grunt and blush as she hid her face in his neck and shoulder joint, clearly not eager to see yet another _Tremor_ knock-off recolor, "NOT ANOTHER ONE!"

Cringing at the reminder of her friend's fear, Lapis quickly offered an apology, "Sorry Steph!" Yami, despite his dark blush, patted her back comfortingly as the three monsters merged together in a spiral formation into one soul-like orb.

"Its gone," Yami told her after finding his voice. Peeking up and seeing Zone Eater gone, Stephanie sighed in relief before blushing and apologizing softly, "S-S-Sorry..." He smiled at her reassuringly.

"Take a good look at our new monster," Lapis grinned as the orb extended to take form of their new creature, "Aqua Dragon!"

This dragon more closely resembled a more western design of the species, being the type that more traditionally stand on their hind-legs, being of a semi-bulky, T-Rex like structure with its large, thick legs and short, thin arms and three-digit claws and talons. It had a serpent-like neck and reptilian face with two horns on its head, and had a pair of bat-like wings. It coloring was majorly a cerulean blue with a sea-green underbelly and purple eyes. It released a powerful roar that created shock-waves that had both the brothers, the Gem duelists and their group shielding themselves.

 **Aqua Dragon. Attribute: WATER. Tribe: SEA-SERPENT/FUSION. Lv: 6. ATK/DEF: 2250/1900**

"The Gate Guardian isn't so unbeatable now!" Peridot grinned only for the brothers to start laughing creepily, much to everyone's confusion and her only annoyance, "What are you two rhyming clods laughing about now?"

"If you think your friends' new beast will win the match, then you are sadly mistaken," Dox answered, "Do you not recall what Miss Quartz-Universe mentioned earlier? The labyrinth is a no flight zone."

"What?" Peridot, Jasper, Joey and Tristan shouted with wide eyes.

"Mrgrgr! You two made that up!" Peridot said angrily, looking like she going to go over and give the brothers a piece of her mind, had Jasper not grabbed her by the back of her suit, "You can't just do that in the middle of a match."

"We did no such thing," Para stated with a smug smirk. "It doesn't matter if our dragon can fly or not," Lapis stated with confidence, "We're still going to beat you," She gave a small, slightly strained smile at her partner, "Right?" Bismuth smiled in kind.

The rainbow Gem nodded back just as confident, replying, "Of course, I've got an alternate plan."

"Create as many plans as many plans as you like, nothing will protect you from defeat," Dox stated drawing, before chuckling as he played a card, "For you see, I play one of the most powerful and rarest in the word; Riryoku."

"Riryoku?" All but the three Millennium Wielders questioned. "Yami?" Joey asked, "Steph? Bakura?"

"Like they said," Bakura answered, "Its a rare and powerful magic card."

"Too true," Dox agreed before explaining, "With this magic card, I can take half of both of your life points and add them to a monster of my choosing." Both Gems growled as their life points both dropped into dangerous numbers.

 **Bismuth LPs: 350**

 **Lapis LPs: 650**

"That isn't fair," Lapis growled, "You're both nothing but thieves!"

"Hold strong Lazuli," Bismuth advised.

"Ha," Para scoffed, "The only one staying strong will be the Gate Guardian who is the one we are powering up with your life points." The Gate Guardian glowed a brilliant white as its segments' attack power increased.

 **Sanga. ATK/DEF: 3000/2200**

 **Kazejin. ATK/DEF: 3050/2200**

"Luckliy for you, using the power of Riryoku ends our turn," Dox stated, "But when our next turn comes round, the Gate Guardian's newfound power will win the duel for us."

"Aw man, this ain't good," Joey commented worriedly. "Don't worry Joey," Stephanie said trying to instill some confidence in both him and the others, "I know Bismuth has a plan, she didn't survive this long as a rebel without having _some_ kind of trick or two up her sleeve."

"I hope so," Tristan said in concern.

"You are all talk," Para said, "Make your move, if you think you can still turn this duel around."

"Very well, first I draw," Bismuth replied drawing, "Next I shall bring my Luster Dragon #2 from the safety of the Magical Stone Eggs, and I move him five spaces forward and out of the maze." The last magic egg broke into pieces freeing Luster Dragon and he walked forward, stride proud and head held high as he finally exited the blasted maze.

Bismuth then played a spell card, "Next I play the magic card Monster Reborn!"

 _'No matter what monster he brings back, it won't help him win against the Gate Guardian,'_ Para thought arrogantly, not bothering to wait and see what Bismuth brought back, "Your plan will fail, Gate Guardian attack Luster Dragon #2!" The Gate Guardian charged its attack and fired at Luster Dragon, who didn't even flinch at the on-coming attack nor did he brace for impact.

"You attack without waiting to see what monster I brought back, you wasted your turn," Bismuth chided before shouting her order, "Suijin, Tidal Shield!" A familiar wall of water shot up, protecting Luster Dragon from the attack, much to the brothers' shock as the others cheered, including the still watching Sapphire at Bismuth's clever move.

"I see you recognize the monster," Bismuth said as her dragon flew up to perch on the resurrected blue monster, "Its your own Suijin."

"Alright Bismuth!" Tristan cheered happily, looking close to breaking into a happy dance. "That's the play of the game!" Joey added.

"He used his Monster Reborn to bring back our Suijin," Para said stunned, "Only now he is not ours."

"You have been lucky for Space Rocks that can talk," Dox said with a frown, earning dark frowns from the others, including Bismuth and Lapis, while Tristan and Joey looked downright livid, "But rest assured that all luck runs out."

"Yeah, yeah, keep talking," Bismuth said rolling her eyes, "I believe its Lazuli's turn." Lapis smiled in kind before drawing.

 _'Okay, Bismuth started the comeback, I just need to continue it,'_ Lapis thought before looking at her new card to see it was spell card, _'What? Cellular Mimication? Doesn't it basically copy whatever spell or trap the opponent has already...!'_ Lapis trailed off in her thoughts as she blinked in a classic 'light bulb' moment, getting an idea, before smirking mischievously in a way that made Jasper rather nervous, but also anticipating her next move as she giggled almost evilly with a dark smile, "This will work."

Everyone else looked at her either confused or a little creeped out by her giggle, save for Joey, who was blushing up a storm, finding this sudden deviousness rather attractive for some reason.

"I play Cellular Mimication to use your own Riryoku!" Lapis said as she played her card, much to the brothers' shock.

"Impossible!" They both cried at the same time as their life points were cut in half.

 **Para LPs: 450**

 **Dox LPs: 550**

"Oh and don't worry about the lost life points, by the way," Lapis added with a teasing sing-song voice that made the girls and other Gems giggle, "They're going to a good place...Aqua Dragon, to be exact." Like Gate Guardian, Aqua Dragon glowed white with a deep, guttural roar as his attack increased.

 **Aqua Dragon. ATK/DEF: 3250/1900**

"Great move Lapis!" Bismuth cheered making her smile, clearly pleased with herself.

"What good will that do? Your dragon cannot move," Dox reminded them making the group deflate a little, though Bismuth and Lapis didn't appear all that worried, "If you were smart, you would've used our life points to power up Suijin, for it is him I am attacking with Thunder Stroke Attack!" The electrical attacked shot across the field toward Suijin.

"Suijin, Tidal Shield!" Bismuth countered causing the wall of water to rise up and block the attack. "To be honest, we knew you would defend," Para commented. "Yes, now hit him again!" Dox ordered and the attack was fired once more, prompting Luster Dragon to leap away to avoid the explosion that followed once it hit.

"Wait, why didn't Suijin defend himself again?" Peridot asked confused. "Because Suijin can only use his defensive ability once per turn," Bakura explained, "So the Paradox Brothers split their attack into two; one to use up the ability and another to destroy Suijin for real."

"Did you really think that one elemental would stand up against two?" Para asked smugly, "That type of miscalculation will cost you the duel."

"I may not be a strategist or a natural calculator like Peridot, but I like to think I know what I'm doing," Bismuth replied unfazed, making Peridot blink in surprise at the unintentional compliment, "I knew you would attack Suijin, in fact, I hoped you would do so, to keep your attention away from Luster Dragon," She then held up a card for them to see, "For you see in order to use the Monster Replacement card with Aqua Dragon, I needed a monster placed at the _other_ end of the maze."

"She played us for fools!" Dox exclaimed in shock.

"And now, Monster Replacement, exchange the Aqua Dragon with Luster Dragon #2," Bismuth ordered and with wisps of blue and red magic, the two dragons swapped their places on either ends of the maze, "Oh, and boys~!" They looked at her warily as she crossed her arms with a smirk, "You didn't forget about my Castle of Dragon Souls, did you?" Both brothers paled in response as she held up Fairy Dragon's card, "By banishing Fairy Dragon from play, I increase Aqua Dragon's power further by an additional seven hundred points."

Fairy Dragon's soul emerged from the castle, flying over the maze to the fusion dragon and becoming one with it, making Aqua Dragon roar as its colors brightened a little and crystals formed along its wings as its attack increased.

 **Aqua Dragon. ATK/DEF: 3950/1900**

"Now its time to end this duel!" Lapis said firmly as she and Bismuth both shared a victorious glance. "Aqua Dragon!" The two Gems called as one, "Hyper Hydro Blast!" Aqua Dragon tilted his head back before firing a highly pressurized blast of water destroying the Gate Guardian entirely.

 **Para LPs: 0**

 **Dox: LPs: 0**

"And that's game!" Lapis giggled as the holograms disappeared. "They did!" Tristan whooped as he and the group celebrated, "They did it, they did it, they did it!"

"Here you two go," Bismuth said as she handed Yami his agreed final four Star Chips. "And these are yours," Lapis added handing the other four to Stephanie, leaving her with eight and only two slots left to fill.

"All full," Stephanie smiled at Yami, "Now you can get into the castle and save your grandfather."

Yami smiled back at her, "And you only need two more to save your family." Stephanie smiled in reply, which got wider as Peridot and Jasper smiled at her as well along with Lapis and Bismuth.

The Paradox Brothers chuckled, Para being the one to inform them, "Not quite yet, one more test for you to pass."

"Why am I not surprised?" Jasper asked in a growl. "We beat you in a duel!" Peridot protested, "Fair and square, you have to let us pass!"

"But you have not solved the riddle of which door leads to freedom," Dox replied, "And which leads you to wander aimlessly forever."

"We remember," Yami assured stepping forward, arms crossed in slightly irritation, "Now, which of you guard the door that leads out of here."

"If you cherish your lives," Para answered, "You will choose my way."

"Select my door," Dox rebuffed, "Or else you'll pay."

Both Peridot and Lapis face-faulted with annoyed groans, "Not this again."

Even Jasper face-palmed, "Can they even _give_ a straight answer to save their lives?"

Both brothers replied at once, "I am giving you a straight answer." Which made Stephanie narrow her eyes at them, her cheek-marks glowing slightly against her skin.

"Okay, I got nothing," Tristan said helplessly, "Any ideas, anyone?" Everyone else shrugged and scratched their heads, except Stephanie, who seemed to mull something over before summoning something from her gemstone, the bright pink light hiding what it was.

"I think I have one," Stephanie stated revealing two vintage Feudal Japanese coins, one had Para's symbol, the other had Dox's, "We can settle it with these."

"Where did you get those?" Bakura asked curiously, admiring the coins. "One of my brothers got them for me for my birthday last year," Stephanie answered smiling a little at the memory. The brothers laughed in amusement to her choice.

"Okay, fine," Dox chuckled, "Heads or tails?"

"Neither," Stephanie replied, "Both coins are marked with symbols that match your doors," She then clenched a hand around each coin, "The one I keep in my hand is the door I chose." She then unclenched a hand, revealing the one with Dox's symbol.

"The coin is marked for Dox's door," Para reacted first. "But was your choice good or was it poor?" Dox questioned in rhyme, now all four Gems groaned in annoyance, making the watching Sapphire giggle to herself, wishing Ruby, Amethyst and Pearl could see this.

"What do you say Dox?" Para questioned his twin, "Shall we tell them which is right?"

"In due time Para," Dox replied in kind, "I'm quite enjoying their plight."

"Will you two please stop that already?" Peridot all but yelled clutching her forehead, "I have a serious case of the light depletion and you two aren't helping any!"

"Seriously, can I punch them?" Lapis asked almost pleadingly, "I don't know how much more of this I can take!"

"Which is it though?" Joey asked sympathically patting Lapis' shoulder as Bakura did the same with Peridot, "Dox? Or is it Para?"

"I say..." Para began with a smug smile. "You chose wrong," Dox finished, "It was my doorway." Once again, Stephanie's eyes narrowed into a more knowing and triumphant look mixed with a mischievous-wicked, cat-like smile that sent a shiver up Yami's spine, especially with how the glow from her cheek marks lit up her expression.

"You're...lying~," Stephanie sing-songed teasingly, making everyone look at her in shock.

"No we aren't," Para denied. "Yes, you are~!" Stephanie continued in a sing-song tone, a light giggle in her voice, before smirking, "You can change which door leads to the way out, can't you?" Both brothers looked flabbergasted, "That way, you ensure no matter which we pick, it will always be the wrong door."

Peridot and Joey glared angrily, "That's cheating!"

"Too bad, too late," Dox stated, "You chose a way."

Para nodded in agreement, "So in this maze you will stay."

"Yeah...not quite," Stephanie smirked, "You didn't actually see what our choice was." She then opened her other hand to reveal the other coin.

Everyone stared in shock, Lapis being the one to voice the disbelief, "The Dox coin?"

"I figured you two would pull a stunt like this, since I knew you were lying since the start of the whole rhyming thing," Stephanie explained much to everyone's shock as she shrugged, "This just gives me more proof, so instead of using a coin with only one of each symbol, I used one that had both symbols," She turned the first one around to reveal Para's symbol on it as well, "That way, we can't lose."

"Looks like we beat you two at your own game," Yami smirked widely at her poly.

"Now kindly stand aside," Stephanie adopted her cold persona as she stared them down, daring them to go back on their word of letting them by, "I still need one more duel before I can settle a score with your boss." The brothers shared a glance before Dox's door opened and the group walked through.

"How'd you know they were lying?" Bakura asked curiously and they all inclined their heads to listen. Stephanie hummed thoughtfully as she mulled over how to answer, before once again shrugging, "To be honest I have no clue, I just know."

"Huh?" Even the four Gems gaped at her in shock. "How do you just... _know_ when someone's lying to you?" Tristan and Jasper asked together in disbelieved-shock. Again, Stephanie shrugged, "Again, no clue, its just something I have...Garnet thinks it was just one of my mom's more dormant abilities she just wasn't aware of...you know, since Rose Quartz were literally a brand new Gem when the Rebellion happened and since they were immediately bubbled, my mom was the only example to go by and...she was pretty secretively."

"But still...you just... _know?_ " Tea persisted in disbelief. "Yeah, I just do, doesn't seem to matter how well I actually know the person or people who are lying to me, I just know that they are," Stephanie explained with a small smile, "Its actually how I knew that you're guys' intentions for why you're in this tournament is as pure as you say, because I'd literally know if one of you were lying," She then gave Bakura a sheepish look, "Its also why I was kinda wary of you during that whole thing with the shadow duel, I just knew something was off." Bakura had an understanding look on his face, wincing a little at the reminder.

"Okay, so if I said..." Tristan said pausing to think of something, "I'm half Russian with ties in the mafia and a member of the KKK." He looked at her for her reaction as her cheek-marks gave a soft glow.

Stephanie didn't even bat an eyelash at the outlandish story as she said instantly, "You're lying."

"No shit he's lyin'," Joey remarked, "Tristan, I've known yah since we were kids, ya ain't the least bit Russian!"

"Yeah, you know that, Yugi knows that and Tea knows that," Tristan replied looking a little disturbed now at Stephanie's response, "But she didn't."

"But how'd you know to trick them like that?" Yami decided to switch the topic, genuinely curious. "Well, to be honest the place reminded me of this escape room my brothers and sister took me to once when I was little," Stephanie replied smiling at the memory, "We had to figure out which door was the right one, but the guy was talking in riddles like the Paradox brothers were, so when I tried straight out asking and knew he was lying, I decided using the coin trick and it turns out both doors lead out, it was all just one final trill of the set of rooms."

"That's...actually rather smart," Bakura observed. "More like convent, that this was so similar," Tea remarked dryly.

"Hmm, Jenny would probably said something similar if she were..." Stephanie began only to pause with wide eyes as something finally clicked in her head, "Ah shit!"

Everyone jumped as this was the first they've heard her curse. "What's wrong?" Tea asked before yelping when Stephanie took her suitcase from Lapis and opened it, uncaring for how her underwear and bras were out for the boys to see, Tristan, Joey, Bakura and Yami all blushed darkly and looked away as the two-toned girl searched through her clothes.

"Steph?" Peridot asked. "I forgot to call my friends back at Beach City to tell them I got to the island safe!" Stephanie panicked as she searched for her phone, only to suddenly smack herself in the forehead, "Oh wait, I put it in my gem." Which made the others face-fault as she closed her suitcase, she then summoned her cellphone and quickly scrolled through her contacts, mostly likely deciding who would be the less angry when she called, before picking a number and held her phone to her ear as she changed back to normal.

She anxiously tapped her foot as she waited for the rings to be cut off, "Come on, Jamie, pick up, pick up..." When the ringing finally did stop, she started talking, "Jamie, its me, I-" But she cut herself off.

 _"You've reached Jamie Gorgarinatos*, I cannot come to the phone right now,"_ Jamie's answering-machine interrupted her, _"Either hang up now and call again later or leave a message at the beep, otherwise, have a beautiful day."_ She hung up before the beep could go off.

She then tried a different number, talking when the rings stopped, "Sour Cream, I know I said I'd-" But again she stopped as the answering-message played, she tried Jenny, "Jen, its me-" But again, she got voicemail, "Lars?" Voicemail again, "Dr. M?" Still no answer, "Connie?" Tears started to well with worry, "Mr. Pizza?" She was vaguely away of the dull sting of her knees hitting the cold stone of the rocky floor or the others calling to her, "Vidalia?" Her hands shook as the phone slipped from her grip.

A gold glow flashed out of the corner of her eye before Yugi, not Yami, knelt down in front of her, gently grasping her shoulders with both hands, a very concerned expression on his face, "Steph, what's wrong?" He gave her the smallest, gentlest shake he could when she didn't answer, his concern growing as her pink-tinted tears began to run down her cheeks, "Stephanie?"

"They...they're not answering..." Stephanie managed to get out, voice wavering with worry and mild panic, much to everyone's concern, "Someone _always_ answers..."

"Maybe they're all at a town event?" Peridot asked recalling how Stephanie had told her and Lapis about them. Stephanie shook her head, "I have them all memorized, there isn't one for another month..." Her fingers slowly found her hair and gripped as her panic increased, "But even then, my friends always answer...especially Sour Cream!"

"What kind of a name is..." Tristan started but was cut off by an elbow to the gut from Tea and a 'not now' type of glare from the brunette girl. "Literally, _no one_ is answering, guys," Stephanie shook, her voice almost coming out in sobs, " _Someone_ should be answering!" Yugi held her tight as she started to shake more, looking at the others in worried-concern as they all shared uncertain looks, even Peridot and Lapis didn't know what to do or say.

From the room through one of the mini-cams along the corridor, Sapphire covered her mouth in alarmed-worry for her little Quartz, wishing desperately for Ruby to reform so she had someone to tell her things were going to be okay. Because as of that moment, even she didn't know for what to think.

* * *

 **Bam-Bam-BAAAAM!**

 **Or, however that dramatic sound goes, lol!**

 **Well, not a bad way to end the chapter, I like to think. Let me know what you guys think.**

 **Gorgarinatos*: Pronounced ( _Gore-Gar-E-Nah-Tos_ ) is just a random mix of randomly picked Greek words, to be pacific _Gorgona_ ( _The second 'o' having an accent_ ), _Margaritari_ (** _ **The third 'a' also having an accent**_ **) and _Athanatos_ ( _The second 'a' also having an accent)_ is you want to see for yourself how they're correctly spelled, check it out on Google Translator and set the second language to Greek.**

 **Now, lets get on with the polls, going in the same order as last time.**

 **Should we have a King of Games or a Queen of Games?**

 **King: 7, Queen: 2.**

 **Should Stephanie get an Egyptian God Card?**

 **Yes: 4, No: 6.**

 _ **If**_ **yes, which Egyptian God should Stephanie get?**

 **Obelisk: 2, Ra: 1 and Slifer: 0.**

 **So, only one new vote for Stephanie to get a God Card, well, still plenty of time, so, who knows how things will change by Battle City.**

 **Remember to leave a review, til next time!**


	20. Chapter 20

**In fear of sounding like a broken record: I do not own Steven Universe or any of its original characters nor do I own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of its original characters, I can say, however, that I do own Stephanie, her yami and all OCs I chose to make, including original Crystal Beasts, i.e. Bismuth Beaver, and other original cards. If I _did_ own Steven Universe, trust me, things would've been a lot different and if I own Yu-Gi-Oh there would've been a way for Atem to stay and have all his memories.**

 **Last time, Bismuth and Lapis won their first duel against the Paradox Brothers and Stephanie solved the riddle to get everyone out of the tunnels, but has discovered no one is answering her calls back home.**

 **Lady Twilight Prime: Please don't take this the wrong way, but for some reason your newest review makes me smile every time I read it, don't ask me why, it just does, but the whole 'this is not a drill' thing. My mom even asked me what was funny. Hope you continue liking this fic and that you like this chapter.**

 **flying ducks101: Thanks for the vote, hope you continue enjoying this story and new chapter!**

 **Now, let's get on with it!**

* * *

In the tunnels of Pegasus' castle, Seto Kaiba was rushing down the corridors, hoping to find his brother as he called out, "Mokuba!"

In his cell, Mokuba's head shot up with wide eyes to hear his brother's voice before calling back, "Seto! Seto, over here!"

Seto ran over to where he could see a pair of arms sticking through the iron bars of a cell and upon seeing Mokuba, reached through to pull his little brother as close as the iron bars between them would allow. "Big brother!" Mokuba explained at the hug, returning the gesture happily, "You found me! I knew you would!"

"Always, Mokie," Seto replied affectionately, before they parted as something began to move around from beneath his coat.

"You found him?" An irradiate, familiar, female voice asked through the fabric as the older Kaiba tried in vain to stop whatever was moving around, "Its safe now right? I can come out? I'm coming out." A familiar air-born robot emerged from Seto's coat.

"Maisie!" Mokuba exclaimed smiling widely at the little robot, "You came too!"

"Well of course I came too!" Maisie said sounding insulted he would think otherwise, "You think Mister One Track Tunnel Mind would have gotten this far on this own?" Seto sighed and shook his head as Mokuba giggled.

Seto muttered loudly, "How I regret ever letting you talk me into giving her this much intelligence." Mokuba just giggled harder.

"Now to get you out of here," Seto said kneeling to examine the lock on the iron bar-door. "Such a shame," A familiar voice called from behind, making Seto freeze for a moment, "I did hope you would stay around for longer Kaiba-boy."

Seto shot to his feet and whirled around as Maisie hovered back as Pegasus slowly emerged from the shadows, a small, thin ball and chain of a strange turquoise-greenish-blue color in one hand. Imagine Seto's shock to see the other end of the chain attacked to a matching collar around a young woman's neck. The woman was abnormally pale with short peach-pink hair that was styled back into something resembling a point, her bangs framing yet another of those strange gemstones, hers being a oval-cut pearl of a white hue, sitting center-stage on her forehead, just like Peridot, her eyes being the same turquoise as the collar and chain around her thin neck. Her expression one of worry and concern, indicating to him she wasn't there on her own volition.

"Your brother and I have spent much quality time together; would you like to hear about it?" Pegasus asked chuckling as Pearl leaned as far as the chain would allow, clearly wary of him, "Cartoons, mostly."

"Pegasus, you creep," Seto said cracking his knuckles menacingly, "I've been looking forward to this."

Maisie added with a quip, "And I've been looking forward to documenting this too." Seto vaguely heard the beep of her turning on her camera.

"Oh, I wouldn't do that," Pegasus remarked reaching with his free hand to pull out a blank Duel Monster card, "Violence never was my forte," He ignored Pearl's snort at his words, "I choose to employ more advantageous methods." A gold glow shot forth from his Milllennium Eye, making Pearl gasp in shocked-alarm as she, Seto and Mokuba were forced to look away from the intense light.

"SETO!" Mokuba yelled out and as the light died down, Seto whirled around as Pearl gasped once more in horror, to see his brother lying on the ground, face-down and motionless. "MOKUBA!" Seto and Maisie cried in horror, the robot easily slipping through the bars to do a diagnostics scan on her younger master.

"What did you do to him?" Seto demanded whirling back around to face Pegasus, a furious snarl on his face. "Seto, he's alive," Maisie informed sounding relieved with the fact, making Seto relax slightly.

"Very much alive," Pegasus agreed before flipping the card around to show it was no longer blank, but held a picture of Mokuba on it, hands up as if pressing on a window plane, "His soul has just taken a leave of absence from his body." Pearl covered her mouth in shock.

"Why you..." Seto growled angrily. Maisie suddenly shot towards Pegasus, as if to attack him, and probably would've too, if Seto not had the reflexes he did and caught her before she got out of his arm reach as she snarled, "Give him back!"

"I will, believe mr, I will," Pegasus said, "Once Kaiba-boy does a little something for me first; defeat me in a duel, but not here, not now; you must enter my tournament first."

"I don't have time to play your games Pegasus," Seto stated firmly, keeping a grip on Maisie, "Besides, I doubt I'll find enough duelists left on this island by now."

"Ah but you won't need to," Pegasus rebutted with a knowing smile, "You already have ten, the ones that little Stephanie gave you after she took them from one of my eliminators." Pearl tensed at the mention of the strange two-toned girl, leading Seto to believe they knew each other as he touched the pocket he had but the chips in.

"Something tells me that won't be enough for you," Seto growled making Pegasus chuckle. "Indeed," Pegasus answered honestly, "You're going to duel Yugi Muto, I'm sure you're just dying for a re-match."

"What about her?" Maisie asked looking at the still silent Pearl. "I have a different job in mind for her," Pegasus answered as he walked away, leading the Gem along.

 _'Just you wait Pegasus,'_ Seto thought angrily, _'I'll duel Yugi and win, then, I'll crush you.'_

Meanwhile, above ground and not that far from the castle, Yugi, Stephanie and the rest of their group finally emerged from the tunnels after seemingly walking for hours. Peridot was the first to exit, having sprinted upon seeing the rays of sunlight peeking from the cellar-like staircase exit that had been at the end of tunnel.

Upon stepping into the warm, natural light, she spread out her arms dramatically with a very, _very_ happy sigh before exclaiming, "Oh beautiful warm daylight, I'll never take you fore-granted again!" Before dancing around in glee and quite literally singing the sun's praises and about happy days, much to the others' amusements as the Gems all basked in the sunlight, all of the slowly regaining their power and strength.

Tea couldn't help quipping, "And I thought Joey was dramatic."

"Hey!" Joey frowned at her at the jab. "You can't deny that's its good to be out though," Tristan pointed out, making Joey shrug and nod. "I certainty can't disagree on that," Bismuth said, "I can quite happily say that if I ever see another candle-lit hall, it just might be too soon." They all laughed at that, save for one.

Yugi glanced over at the still silent hybrid, who was looking at her phone with worry. It had taken a miracle to get her to calm down from nearly hyperventilating. Yugi had taken a leap of faith and had taken her phone to play one of the songs in her playlist. It was a random song, but it seemed to work, he once again recognized the singer as her father, Mr. Universe, but hadn't recognized the song. It had the intended effect though, though he had ended up having to guide and help her walk through most the tunnel. He didn't mind though, he couldn't imagine the what was likely going through her mind at the moment, all of your most precious people in the world, completely unresponsive, all at the same time just didn't sound right to him.

"And there's Pegasus' castle," Jasper said making Yugi look up at the looming structure. "Quite odd," Bakura suddenly said, holding up his ring as one of its pointers glowed and lifted up to point at the castle, "My Millennium Ring is already pointing towards it."

"Probably already sensing Pegasus' eye," Yugi remarked. "So we'd better get goin'," Joey said with a grin, "Yug' 'n' I finally have enough Star Chips tah get inside."

"Yeah, but Stephanie hasn't yet," Yugi interrupted their celebrating mood, reminding them they all weren't ready yet and also reminding them of the hybrid in question, "She still needs two more."

"But where are we going to find another duelist this late into the tournament?" Lapis asked seriously.

Stephanie, meanwhile, felt absolute dread, unable to focus on the task at hand and find her last two Star Chips, her focus solely on her phone. She couldn't remember a time she felt this bad, she wasn't quite sure even the situation with the Diamonds and the whole Aquamarine and Topaz fiasco measured up equally with this. In those situations, she at least had some idea of what was going on and how to handle things, because she was decently familiar with how Gems work, biologically speaking, anyways. This was drastically different. She had no idea what to expect. She had very limited interactions with humans and quite often took many things just as literal as the Gems did, so all this as quite literally new territory for her.

Worse of all, she felt so responsible for whatever worst scenarios that were happening back at Beach City, feeling she had brought whatever misfortune that had shown its face. What if it was some of the Corrupted Gems got out? What if it was one they had missed and hadn't bubbled yet? What if the Diamonds had shown up and were searching for her? Or worse, what if it was Pegasus kidnapping more hostages to hold over her head to get whatever it was he wanted from her? She honestly wasn't sure which was worse.

 _"It could be none of those things you know,"_ The spirit of the Earrings remarked from where she stood next to her lighter half, their cheek marks beginning to glow against their cheeks as Stephanie's emotions continued to storm inside her, _"Don't a lot, if not all, tournaments have live-feeds that people can watch from home? Maybe they're setting it up so they can all watch the finals together?"_

 _"Doesn't mean they wouldn't have paused in all that work to call me back by now!"_ Stephanie rebuked worriedly, _"And what about Connie's Mom? What could she be possibly doing besides tending to Dad that she can't have checked her phone by now and at least text me! Jenny always has her phone on!"_ She gave a frustrated mental scream as her gem began to glow a soft, barely noticeable, dark shade of red, _"How much you wanna bet that none of thing would be happening if I just acted like the perfect little girl I was suppose to be and just stayed in the house and on the beach instead always going into town?"_

 _"Hey, none of this is your fault,"_ The spirit told her in a firm, but gentle reassurance, _"All you've ever done is help others, try and make them happy, to make their lives better; if you ask me, that makes you more than entitled to be able to have the freedom to explore and make friends."_

 _"And look where it gets me!"_ Stephanie retorted as her pink-tinted tears began to roll down her cheeks once more, neither girl noticing the additional golden hue to her tears as they trickled down her cheek-marks, _"Pearl was right...Pearl is always right..."_ Nor did they notice the small sprouts of plants beginning to peek up through the ground where her tears hit the softened earth by her feet.

Her spirit looked away, unsure what to say.

"Steph?" Yugi's voice called her out of her internal turmoil and she looked to him to see him give a reassuring smile, "I'm sure you're friends back home are fine, you said they had other Gems with them right?"

"Yeah, what did you call 'em?" Joey agreed pausing to recall the names as Peridot remained oblivious to all the drama in her giddiness to once again be out in sunlight. "The Rutile Twins, Fluorite, Rhodonite and Padparascha Sapphire," Lapis said for him. "Yeah, them," Joey nodded to her, making her smile.

"I just can't help but worry," Stephanie admitted voice rather quiet. "You made it sound like most of them are around our age or older," Tristan said, "I like to think they should know how to take care of themselves."

"Its not that, they are," Stephanie said quickly as she dried her tears, trying to calm down, but her cheek marks remained present and the Eye of Horus absent, though the marks did stop glowing, "I'm just so used to knowing how to deal with threats to my home, I guess this is just getting to me."

"Can't say I blame you there," Bakura said, "I can't say I wouldn't be a little stressed if I were in your shoes." Stephanie smiled tightly in response to the understanding tone. _"Stressed is putting it mildly,"_ Her spirit remarked idly with a small eye-roll as their gemstone stopped glowing.

"Hey, did you always have those cheek marks?" Bismuth suddenly asked curiously, much to everyone's confusion. Stephanie touched her cheeks before fishing out a pink compact mirror from her suitcase's smaller front pockets. "Is everything you own pink?" Tristan asked incredulously. "Its an inherited color," Stephanie shrugged before looking into the round mirror and was surprised to see the flower-shaped marks.

"Huh, that's odd, these never happened before," Stephanie remarked. "You seem strangely calm about tattoos appearing out of nowhere on your cheeks," Tea commented.

Stephanie shrugged, "With everything I go through on a literal day-to-day, almost hourly basis; barely anything really fazes me anymore."

No one had a rebuttal as they thought of it from her point of view as she put the mirror away.

"How long is she goin' to keep goin' on like that?" Joey asked as they started watching Peridot keep prancing around in delirious glee and singing and laughing. "Let her get it out of her system," Lapis shrugged, "We are pretty close to the castle, so its not like we're pressed for time anymore."

Jasper couldn't help nodded, able to see the blue Gem's point, "True."

Yugi then noticed Stephanie walked away, calling, "Where are you going Steph?"

"Just over there to de-stress a little," Stephanie replied, "After all this I kinda need it, otherwise, I think I'm gonna burst, and I don't think anyone needs to be ducking a frisbee-shield."

"Do you want one of us to come with you?" Bakura offered. "Nah, I'll be fine," Stephanie waved it off with a gentler, more sincere smile, "I'm not going that far and I'll shout if something happens."

"If your sure," Bismuth said as she and Jasper shared an unsure glance. "Yeah, I'm sure," Stephanie assured once more before walking off.

"I'm worried about her guys," Yugi admitted once the hybrid was out of ear-shot, the others all nodded in agreement as Peridot skipped over. "Worried about who?" The green Gem asked confused, much to their shock, "What?"

Meanwhile, Stephanie kept walking until she found a little clearing and took a deep breath. She couldn't let herself fall apart. Not now, not when she was this close. The sooner she got those last two Star Chips, the sooner she got into that black-hole blasted castle, the sooner she gets her family and possibly even her friends back safe and sound.

She summoned a clip for her phone to hook it to her dress' neckline before plugging her earbuds in. After pressing play, Stephanie took the beginning of the song to ease into her starting position of two, she breathed out as she cleared her mind, well, tried to clear her mind. However, she was unable to rid herself of her guilt as she rose herself onto her toes, preparing for her dance. She was unable to shake the idea that, at the end of the day, this all proved Pearl had been right during an argument back when she was little. She remembered the day well.

 ** _/Flashback/_**

 ** _Six-year-old Stephanie stood alone in the living room/kitchen combo of her house, waiting both patient and excited for the Gems to come home from yet another mission. She clutched a form tight in her hand that was missing a signature, already having her father's, it just needed one of the Gems', then she would be able to go to Big Apple City with Big Brother Sour Cream and his friends. Auntie Vidalia and Uncle Dewey were going, so there was no reason for any of the Gems not to let her go. And it would be her first time away from Beach City to boot, she was so excited._**

 ** _She knew it wouldn't be hard to convince Amethyst, she was the fun rule-breaker. Garnet was the real cool one who knew when to be stern and when to let her do her own thing. It was Pearl she was concerned about. Garnet said she could go if Pearl said it was okay. The problem was that pale Gem was very strict with her and she was convinced she would say no flat out._**

 ** _"Okay, Steph, this is it," Stephanie whispered to herself, "Just ask her. I mean, the worst she can do is say no, right?"_**

 ** _She turned as the door opened and in walked Pearl, she smiled and rushed over, "Hey Pearl, how did the mission go?"_**

 ** _"Oh, it was nothing we couldn't handle, sweetie," Pearl smiled as she held a grocery bag. "Where's Amy and Garnet?" Stephanie asked curiously when the other two Gems didn't come in._**

 ** _"Amethyst decided to go for pizza," Pearl answered simply, "Garnet decided to join her," She then smiled widely, "But that doesn't mean we can't have a special dinner for ourselves!"_**

 ** _"Really?" Stephanie asked. "Yes, we're having..." Pearl said pausing for dramatic effect as she set the bag down, "Miso Soup with suishi rice! I know how much you love it when I make Asian food!"_**

 _ **Stephanie couldn't help smiling at the thoughtful gesture. She did love Asian food, Japanese food in particular with their wide variety of rice and seafood dishes. It helped that after Pearl realized the complexity of cooking different cultural dishes, she didn't mind indulging in bringing the world to her ward through her dinner plate, liking the challenge the culinary arts brought.**_

 _ **"That...is nice...Pearl," Stephanie admitted with a small hesitance in her voice, Pearl didn't seem to notice though, "Um...a-a-actually Pearl...there was something...I wanted to...to talk to you a-a-about..."**_

 _ **"Stephanie, please, don't start with the stuttering and the mumbling again," Pearl interrupted sharply as she turned from taking out the groceries out from the bag, "You know how I feel about mumbling and stuttering."**_

 _ **Stephanie flinched slightly instinctively, eyes glancing down, "Sorry, Pearl."**_

 _ **Pearl just sighed patiently through her nose before turning back to her task of preparing dinner.**_

 _ **Stephanie glanced down at the paper in her hands and for a moment, her grip tighten as she steeled what resolve and courage she had left in her, before looking up bravely as she exclaimed, "I want to go see Big Apple City!"**_

 _ **This time, Pearl paused and dropped the package of fish she had taken out as she processed these words. Pearl then turned to face the little hybrid Gem, a very confused and incredulous look on her face as she asked, "Wh-what...?"**_

 _ **Stephanie took a breath before presenting the forum to Pearl, explaining, "I was hoping you'd sign the forum so I could go with Sour Cream and Aunt Vidalia to go with them to Big Apple City."**_

 _ **Pearl took the forum and looked it over, "You mean another town."**_

 _ **"That's the thing, Big Apple City is way bigger then Beach City!" Stephanie said, "There's way more houses, even houses that are stacked onto each other like a tower, and there are more humans! More stores, more restaurants, more cars, more friends to be made!"**_

 _ **Pearl set the forum down on the dining table and walked towards the window with a thoughtful, but pensive expression. Had this been any other location nearby, she wouldn't have been so reserved. But this was Rose's daughter, her legacy, which she entrusted to Pearl. It was her duty to watch over her and protect her. She knew exactly what was in Big Apple City and just who she might encounter if she went there without her.**_

 _ **"Please Pearl," Stephanie pleaded with her, "Its just for a few days, its not like I won't come back; I just need to see it for myself."**_

 _ **"You want to go outside Beach City?" Pearl asked with a smile as she walked towards the door she had accidentally left open, she then chuckled in amusement, "Oh Stephanie..." Stephanie instinctively flinched as Pearl abruptly slammed the door closed, locking it in the same swift motion.**_

 _ **/End Flashback/**_

Stephanie arched her back in an attitude en pointe and slowly spun in a graceful arch before spinning back round to bring it back down in front of her and brought her arms up dramatically as if feigning faint or scandal. She breathed out as the memory played in her mind. She could still recall that day so clearly, so vividly, as if it were yesterday, despite all of the events that had happened recently and that day being almost around eight years ago. She can still remember the song that Pearl had sung, word for word.

 _ **/Flashback/**_

 _ **Look at you as fragile as a flower,**_

 _ **Still a little sapling, just a sprout,**_

 _ **Pearl turned and motioned around the house, "You know why we stay here on this beach."**_

 _ **"I know," Stephanie answered, "But-"**_

 _ **"That's right!"**_ _ **Pearl interrupted as she pulled the little hybrid into a hug, "To keep you save and sound, dear."**_

 _ **Pearl then walked towards the window, hand brought up to her gemstone in dramatics, "Guess I always knew this day was coming!" She then pulled the blinds closed before walking past Stephanie towards the ladder that lead to the girl's bed and to where the large master light switches were as she added, "Knew that soon you'd want to leave the nest."**_

 _ **Pearl then leaned out, holding onto one of the step-rails of the ladder as she told Stephanie, "Soon, but not yet."**_

 _ **"But-!" Stephanie started but Pearl placed a finger against her lips with a gentle shush. "Trust me, pet," Pearl reassured before leaning against the wall next to the switches, "Pearl, knows best!"**_

 _ **Pearl laughed as she used her entire hand to flip all of the switches, and with the blinds closed, plunged the entire house into darkness as Stephanie stood their blinking in shock. The little hybrid summon a weak, dim light from her gemstone, lifting her pj shirt up so she could see better before trying to find Pearl and the switches.**_

 _ **"Pearl knows best,"**_ _ **Pearl continued to sing from the darkness, "Listen to your Pearl," Pearl adopted a creepy tone of voice as she suddenly appeared from the dark, jump-scaring Stephanie, hoping to frighten her away from the idea of going to Big Apple City, "Its a scary world out there!"**_

 _ **"Pearl knows best," Pearl retreated into the darkness as Stephanie tried to navigate, only to suddenly feel something pull on the back of her shirt and tried to get out of its grip, "One way or another," Whatever it was suddenly let go, sending little Stephanie stumbling right into the waiting arms of Pearl, who simply told her, "Something will go wrong, I swear!"**_

 _ **Pearl suddenly dropped her and disappeared back into the shadows, before using her gemstone to cast a light, allowing her to create shadow puppets of the darker sides of humanity and the world as she continued to sing the possible perils:**_

 _ **Ruffians, thugs,**_

 _ **Poison ivy, quicksand,**_

 _ **Stephanie suddenly turned to see Pearl, still using her gemstone's light, holding a frying pan with one of her dolls in it.**_

 _ **Cannibals and snakes,**_

 _ **Pearl disappeared and reappeared behind her, purposely tinting her gemstone's light to be more greenish, casting a sickly effect against her pale skin as she pulled a face she had seen in one of the zombie movies Stephanie had borrowed from Lars, putting a moaning effect in her voice.**_

 _ **The plague...**_

 _ **"NO!" Stephanie cried in alarm. Pearl gave her a grin full of teeth, "YES!"**_

 _ **"Wait," Stephanie shook her head, "But-" But Pearl had already disappeared back into the shadows, using the blunt end of her spear to knock Stephanie to the ground, putting the girl face-to-face with a crudely drawn face of a monstrous man with sharp teeth.**_

 _ **Also large bugs,**_

 _ **Men with pointy teeth and-!**_

 _ **As Stephanie scrambled away from the image, Pearl suddenly leaned into the light, lying on the floor in a dramatic faint-pose, a paintbrush in hand, as she exclaimed, "Stop! No more! You're just upset me!"**_

 _ **Abandoning hope of finding the ladder, Stephanie made a beeline for the couch, diving into and wrapping herself in the thick wool blanket that had been lying on it, scared to death. Peering out panicky for anything else Pearl might pull.**_

 _ **"Now your Pearl's right here,"**_ _ **Pearl reassured in a more gentler tone as she pulled Stephanie out from the blanket with a warm smile, "Pearl will protect you," Stephanie hugged her tight out of fear, "Sweetheart, here's what I suggest!" Stephanie pulled away with a startled gasp as a brightened light revealed it to be only one of the Holo-Pearls, which fizzled out of **_**_existence._**

 ** _Stephanie turned to see Pearl elegantly striding down the steps of the wrap, which was lined with lit candles like a runway. Stephanie mildly had to wonder when and how Pearl set that all up._**

 ** _"Skip the journey, stay with Pearly...!"_** ** _Pearl advised as she walked before grinning, "Pearl, knows best!" Laughing, Pearl twirled back up the steps and doused the candles, once again plunging the house into darkness._**

 ** _Whimpering, Stephanie quickly tried to relight the candles, but never saw Pearl walking behind her putting them out again._**

 ** _Pearl knows best,_**

 ** _Listen to your Pearly,_**

 ** _On your own, you won't survive_**

 ** _Stephanie somehow made it to the bathroom where Pearl pushed her up to the full-length mirror in the corner and ducked behind it._**

 ** _Sloppy, under-dressed,_**

 ** _Immature, clumsy_**

 ** _Stephanie blushed at the mention of her flaws as Pearl adjusted the mirror to show Stephanie's bare feet, prompting her to crouch and cover them, only to yelp when Pearl yanked on the carpet, knocking her off her feet. Stephanie shouted as Pearl then began to roll her up in it, adding, "Please, they'll eat you up alive!"_**

 ** _Getting the girl to her feet and back into the living room, Pearl pulled the rug, un-wounding her across the room and into Pearl's waiting hands._**

 _ **Gullible** **, naive, positively grubby,**_

 _ **Ditzy and a bit, well, umm, well vague,**_

 _ **Pearl then knelt down and looked Stephanie up and down, before tapping her under the chin, "Plus, I believe, gettin' kinda chubby," Pearl then pulled her into a hug before Stephanie could process the words, "I'm just sayin' cause I wuv you!"**_

 _ **"Pearl understands," Pearl continued once again disappearing into the darkness as Stephanie finally lost her gemstone's light, prompting her to scream in fear, "Your Pearl's here to help you."**_

 _ **All I have is one request!**_

 _ **A light made Stephanie turn to see the real Pearl kneeling with a warm, loving smile, arms open for a hug. Stephanie sighed in relief and rushed to her, instantly wrapping her little arms around Pearl's neck as Pearl hugged her back with one arm and gently soothed her by running her hands through her hair.**_

 _ **"Stephanie," Pearl began as they pulled away. "Yes, Pearl?" Stephanie asked with a smile, eyes shining. For a moment, Pearl hesitated before steeling her nerve as well as her expression, before saying sternly, "Don't ever ask to go outside Beach City, again."**_

 _ **Stephanie looked like she might cry, but sighed and replied obediently, "Yes, Pearl."**_

 _ **Pearl sighed, relaxing fully as she gently coursed her fingers through two-toned hair, before saying genuinely, "I love you so much my beautiful little Quartz."**_

 _ **"I love you more," Stephanie replied with a slightly forced smile, but Pearl didn't seem to notice. "And I love you the most," Pearl stated gently kissing her forehead. But then, Pearl gently bobbed her nose, "Don't forget," Pearl titled Stephanie's head to get her to look her in the eye,**_ _**"You might just regret it," Pearl then shot to her feet, hand on her chest in grandeur, "Pearl knows best!"**_

 _ **/End Flashback/**_

With a final grande jete, Stephanie slid herself into a releve and held herself in a final pose, quietly catching her breathe as the memory passed. She had never realized it until recently, but Pearl had always in some way or form, had been subtly manipulating her to remain within her range of reach. To always remain within Beach City unless Pearl could tag-along. She had to wonder why that was, perhaps Pearl just being overprotective as always.

A sudden clapping made her start out of her thoughts as post-dance reprieve, forcing her to relax her feet and stumble for a moment before turning to her unexpected audience. It was a girl her age, roughly somewhere between Peridot's and Lapis' height, she was slightly puggy, wearing a pair of jean overalls with a well-pressed pink short-sleeve that was partially tucked in with a pair of thick-looking boots. Her fair skin made her brown hair look darker, tied in a single braid, which hung over one shoulder with a pink elastic, her rather warm and friendly doe-brown eyes smiled at her from behind a pair of simple, oval-shaped, dark-rim glasses. Though, Stephanie didn't miss the Dueling Glove on one of her hands.

"That was so amazing!" The girl chirped as she clapped, "Where did you learn?"

"One of my guardians taught me," Stephanie replied brushing some hair out of her face, "I'm Stephanie Universe."

"Dorothy," The girl introduced, "Dorothy Hale."

"Steph?" Yugi called as he walked into the clearing, "There you are, is everything okay?"

"Yeah, just ran into another duelist, it would seem," Stephanie replied. "Name's Dorothy," The girl introduced herself once again, before recognizing the boy, "Wait, aren't you Yugi Muto? The guy who defeated Seto Kaiba?" Yugi nodded, jumping when the girl suddenly crossed the distance between in seemingly a blink of an eye, "Its such an honor to meet you! I've been dying to meet someone who could actually keep Kaiba on his toes!"

"Its nice to meet you too, Dorothy," Yugi said nervously, not used to random girls getting so close, "But it was really nothing, if anything, Steph's the amazing duelist," Both girls blinked in surprise at the humble and out of nowhere admission, "She did beat Mai Valentine in her very first duel."

"Technically it was my second," Stephanie corrected before rolling her eyes, "But then again, I don't think dueling in an alternate dimension during a time-freeze counts," At Dorothy's quizzical expression, Stephanie shrugged, "Don't ask."

Dorothy seemed to think something over before shrugging, before noticing their Star Chips. "I see you're all set to get into castle, Yugi," Dorothy commented, "Why are you still out here?"

"Well, Steph still needs two more Star Chips," Yugi replied, "So, since we decided we'd go in together, we'd wait until we got all of our ten Star Chips."

"Huh, well isn't that a coincidence," Dorothy commented with an amused expression, showing her own glove and Star Chips, "I only need two more; getting the chance to beat the girl who gave Mai Valentine of all duelists a run for her money will defiantly be a good fight."

"Is that a challenge?" Stephanie narrowed her eyes at Dorothy's forwardness. "What do you think?" Dorothy retorted smirking before Stephanie's cheek marks glowed and the Eye of Horus appeared on her forehead.

"DAIYAMONDORAITO!" Stephanie shouted as her transformation took hold, the two lights once again merging as one. Stephanie then leisurely stretched out her arms, making Yugi blushed before working the kinks from her neck. Yugi blushed harder when the alter-form of Stephanie glanced at him with a playful wink before shifting into a leaned back pose with her arms crossed, "Alright, Dorothy, let's duel."

Dorothy nodded in response with a wide, excited smile before motioning them to follow her over to a nearby arena that was half forest, while the other half of the field was split between a meadow and rocky-mountain-like terrain. Once again, Stephanie took up the blue platform and console, while Dorothy took the red one.

"Two for two," Stephanie stated setting down her Star Chips. "To see who gets to join Yugi in the finals," Dorothy added smiling as Stephanie narrowed her pink eyes at her, cheek marks flaring darkly with irritation at Dorothy's fixation on her friend.

"Hey, what's going on over here?" Bakura asked as the group arrived. "Hey guys," Yugi greeted as the two female duelists set their decks down after shuffling, then drawing their beginning five cards. "Wow, she sure works fast," Tea commented in surprise. "Who's she?" Jasper asked.

"Called herself Dorothy Hale from what I overheard," Yugi answered, "And for some reason I think Stephanie's not that big a fan of her."

"How so?" Joey asked confused and Yugi could only shrug, also lost on the normally friendly girl's sudden irritation. This made the spirit in the puzzle and recuperating one in the ring both sigh and shake their heads at the short male's obliviousness. Tea, however, had a good idea and called up, "Keep your head up Steph!"

"Duel!" Both girls exclaimed as their life points were set.

 **Dorothy LPs: 2000**

 **Stephanie LPs: 2000**

"I'll start," Stephanie said drawing her sixth card and examined her choices, _'I may get a power bonus from the forest, but I have literally no idea what kind of cards Dorothy uses,'_ For a moment, she thought of playing safe by using her Emerald Tortoise, but decided against it, _'She may try to use the defensive stall tactic to buy time for a stronger monster, so I guess this would be the best choice to see what she can do,'_ This in mind, she picked a different card, "I summon Crazy Lace Prairie Dog!"

They could see a tunnel visibly being burrowed emerging from the tree line of the forest before her monster emerged, revealing itself to be a rodent with a long body, almost like a squirrel, but different, its tail being short and straight and not fluffy. Its fur was fine and sleek on its slender body, being a reddish-brown color with a black tip that covered half its tail. Its eyes were a big, expressive, playful yellowish-brown as it stood up on its hind-legs at attention, a thick, collar-like silver, choker necklace was placed around its neck with a cabochon, pear-cut crazy lace agate gemstone on it. It used one fore-paw to scratch at its nose for a moment before staring down Dorothy.

 **Crystal Beast Crazy Lace Prairie Dog. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: BEAST/EFFECT. Lv: 3. ATK/DEF: 1400/1200**

"Crazy Lace, huh?" Bismuth murmured thinking of one of her comrades during the war. Tristan glanced at her in concern, "You okay?" Bismuth nodded with a small smile.

"Aw, he's so cute!" Dorothy cooed at the cute beast, who, while not the biggest of Crystal Beasts, wasn't exactly Kuriboh sized. Crazy Lace gave an annoyed look, one eye twitching. "Don't let _her_ size fool you," Stephanie commented stressing her prairie dog's actual gender, "Prairie dogs might be herbivores, but that doesn't mean that can't get vicious." Crazy Lace backed her mistress up by baring her teeth, swiping her paws out with a growl.

"Noted, dully noted," Dorothy commented with a chuckle, "Not a bad opening move, considering beasts like her get a field power bonus from the forest." Sure enough, Crazy Lace's stats increased.

 **Crazy Lace Prairie Dog. ATK/DEF: 1820/1560**

"Not a bad opening move," Lapis said with a smile, prompting an agreeing nod from the Gems. "I end my turn," Stephanie said.

"Weird, why didn't Steph put a face-down to defend?" Joey questioned. "Guess she thought with a little over eighteen hundred she'd be fine for now," Tristan shrugged. "Or she could be trying to see what Dorothy can do," Bakura pointed out as the brunette duelist drew.

"I'll start by summoning Gladiator Beast Bestiari!" Dorothy exclaimed playing a card, much to everyone's surprise. " _Gladiator_ Beast?" Everyone echoed in shock.

Her monster was an anthropomorphic bird-man creature with lightish green skin, his beck being a darker shade of green, matching his futuristic, Roman-styled armor. Blade-like spikes were attached to the shoulders and a pair of futuristic, wing-styled white and red guns were attached to the elbows. An iron helmet with red feathers adorning the back of it sat on his head and a pair of magnificent, metallic wings with shining, pale green feathers unfurled from his back as his matching pale green eyes stared down Crazy Lace, who didn't dare back down from the stare off as he crossed his arms.

 **Gladiator Beast Bestiari. Attribute: WIND. Tribe: WINGED-BEAST/EFFECT. Lv: 4. ATK/DEF: 1500/800**

"A Gladiator Beast?" Tea repeated in shock. "I guess Steph and the Gems weren't the only ones who got a new set of cards," Yugi said a little weakly.

"And since Bestiari is a Winged-Beast," Dorothy smiled knowingly, "He gets a power bonus from the rocky-hill."

Stephanie winced, "Wonderful."

 **Bestiari. ATK/DEF: 1950/1040**

"Impressive monster though," Stephanie admitted. "Thanks and as much as I don't condone animal violence," Dorothy said, "I'm gonna have to attack your Prairie Dog," She then ordered, "Bestiari, Pressure Bullet!" Her monster lifted his arms, aiming both arm cannons at Crazy Lace Prairie Dog, who tensed up before one shot a blast of highly condensed, pressurized air, which Crazy Lace had jumped to try and avoid, but was unable to avoid the second one Bestiari shot at her while she was still in the air, but her shards reformed into a geode with reddish-brown crystals peeking through the cracks.

 **Stephanie LPs: 1870**

Suddenly, Bestiari disappeared from the field, much to everyone's shock.

"What the-!" Peridot stammered, "Her monster just disappeared!"

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Tea commented eyes glued to the field. "Is the arena broken?" Tristan asked turning to Yugi and Bakura for answers. "It could be the monster itself," Bakura shrugged cluelessly.

"Strange, my monster was the one that was destroyed," Stephanie spoke, confusion evident in her voice as she looked to Dorothy for answers, "Why did _your_ monster leave the field?"

"Its a power that all of my Gladiator Beasts share, its kinda like your Crystal Beasts' ability to reform as Crystal Geodes if they're destroyed," Dorothy explained with an excited smile, "Since my beasts are also pretty old, they learned plenty of tricks of their own; the common one between them is the ability to tag-out."

"Tag-out?" Stephanie asked confused. "Yep, after battling, if my Gladiator Beasts attacks or was targeted for an attack," Dorothy explained as she held up Bestiari's card, "I can shuffle them back into my hand and summon a new one to take their place, depending on which one is 'tagging out'," That said, she shuffled her avian back into her deck, "Sometimes from my hand, sometimes the deck, sometimes even from the graveyard; for Bestiari, its the deck," She then picked a new card from her deck and played, "And I chose Gladiator Beast Samnite!"

Her new monster was also anthropomorphic, but resembled a saber-tooth lion with a grayish-blue tint to his skin, his sharp fangs bared as he roared in his entrance to battle. Like Bestiari, he wore Ancient Roman armor, only his was black with circular, purplish-red gems on the shoulders. A small pair of futuristic, black, metallic wings sat on his upper back. He brandished a short, one-handed sword with a glowing blue blade in one hand and a rectangular, light purple shield in the other.

 **Gladiator Beast Samnite. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: BEAST/EFFECT. Lv: 3. ATK/DEF: 1600/1200**

"Is somethin' like that even allowed?" Joey asked stunned. "Well, it isn't out of the realm of possibility for monsters to have more then one special power," Yugi replied, "I mean, look at Stephanie's Crystal Beasts."

"Yeah, but..." Lapis said in concern, "How is Steph suppose to beat her when she can just switch out her monsters for new ones after every battle?"

"Common brat!" Jasper called up to Steph, making the rest of the group jump, "Show her what Gems can really do!" Yugi, Bakura, Joey, Tristan and Tea turned questioning looks to Lapis, Peridot and Bismuth, who all shrugged with sheepish expressions.

"And since Samnite is a beast just like your Prairie Dog," Dorothy continued with a smile, "He also gets a power bonus from the forest."

 **Samnite. ATK/DEF: 2080/1560**

"You're move," Dorothy said prompting Stephanie to draw her next card. Pink eyes widened at the sight of her new card before smirking as she said, "I call Lapis Lazuli Swan to the field in attack mode!" Lapis eyes widened in surprise to see she had her own card counter part.

The creature that appeared was a beautiful, elegant, pure white swan, shooting up from within the forest. Her feathers were glossy, the tips of her wings being tipped with shiny, golden feathers. A beautiful golden regalia hung from her neck, the front of which almost resembled a shield with a familiar looking tear-drop-shaped cabachon-cut lapis lazuli gemstone in the middle, smaller sphere-cut lapis lazuli sat higher up on the front of the regalia in the upper-corners. Her bright, intelligent turquoise greenish-blue eyes peered down at Samnite, who nodded in respect to her, which she returned.

 **Crystal Beast Lapis Lazuli Swan. Attribute: WATER. Tribe: WINGED-BEAST/EFFECT. Lv: 4. ATK/DEF: 1900/1750**

"Beautiful..." Lapis murmured in awe. "And fitting," Joey added with a sincere smile, making the sea Gem blush a deep violet.

"And like your Bestiari, as a Winged-Beast, she also gains a power bonus from the rocky hill," Stephanie stated with a smile, "But she also has a second ability, allowing me to summon every Crystal Beast I have in my hand straight to the field," She placed two cards on the console, "So welcome, Sapphire Pegasus and Hessonite Hyena!"

 **Lapis Lazuli Swan. ATK/DEF: 2470/2275**

Her horned, winged mare neighed as she shot up from the trees like Lapis Lazuli Swan did, her horn gleaming a deep blue in the sunlight as she reared in mid-air for dramatic effect before elegantly swooping down and landing, pawing the ground as she waited for her orders, planning to make her mistress proud of her this time around. A shrill, bone-chilling laugh suddenly sounded from within the shadows of the forest before a shadow figure bounded out, jumping onto a rock for a dramatic pose, revealing itself to be a slightly above-average sized spotted hyena, unlike the more traditional hyena, this one wasn't a typical grayish color, but rather, had a more golden hue to her fur with some darker, longer strands atop her head, resembling hair, which fell to the right like a flip-bang, almost entirely hiding one of her dark, but intense blood red eyes. Around her neck, like her comrades, was a regalia, the front of which resembled a heart with a golden-orange hessonite gemstone in the center that had been cut into an emerald-octagonal shape.

 **Hessonite Hyena. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: BEAST/EFFECT. Lv: 4. ATK/DEF: 1600/1500**

In the observation room, Sapphire gasped and awed over her card counter-part, especially over her wings. She had always held a deep admiration of the Lazuli and Aquamarines for their gift of wings. Sometimes, she would imagine what it would be like to fly, but had never dwelled on it.

"Wow, three monsters in one turn!" Joey exclaimed as the others awed over the new Crystal Beasts. "And as a Winged-Beast, Sapphire Pegasus gains a power bonus from the rocky terrain," Yugi smiled. "And as a Beast," Bakura added, "Her Hessonite Hyena also gets a power bonus."

 **Sapphire Pegasus. ATK/DEF: 2340/1560**

 **Hessonite Hyena. ATK/DEF: 2080/1950**

"Now, Lapis Lazuli Swan," Stephanie said, "Feather Shot!" Her swan elegantly did a back-flip, diving at Samnite before, as if she was going to divebomb him, but opened her wings as the golden tips glowed, catching drag to fall back before flapping her wings, sending sharp, glowing golden feathers at her target. Samnite tried to protect himself with his shield, but the feathers went right through the iron shield, piercing the anthro-warrior and destroying him, dropping Dorothy's life points.

 **Dorothy LPs: 1610**

"Yeah!" Joey, Tristan, Bismuth and Peridot cheered. "You go girl!" Tea added encouragingly.

"Next I activate my Sapphire's special power!" Stephanie continued without missing a beat, making the real Sapphire blush at the unintentional Homeworld 'My' endearment, "Allowing me to summon a Crystal Beast to the field as a Crystal Geode from either my hand, deck or the graveyard," She fished out a card from her deck, placing it in her Spell/Trap Card Zone, "And I choose Amethyst Cat," Sapphire gasped as a Geode with purple crystals formed next to the agate one.

"Not bad," Dorothy smiled as she added a card to hand after searching once again through her deck, due to one Samnite's abilities. "Thanks," Stephanie's lips quirked a little, before setting a pair of cards down, "I'll place two cards face-down and end my turn."

Dorothy drew another card before smiling once more, summoning another monster, "First, I summon Rescue Rabbit to the field!"

Her monster, as the name suggested, a rabbit with white and grey fur wearing a helmet and a pair of goggles on its head, and a shiny black whistle around its neck. It, unlike the rest of her monsters, wasn't anthropomorphic, nor was it a Gladiator Beast.

 **Rescue Rabbit. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: BEAST/EFFECT. Lv: 4. ATK/DEF: 300/100**

"Aw, so cute!" Tea gushed. "But really weak," Jasper commented earning a frown from the female human. "She's right, even Carnelian Ewe is over twice as powerful, even with the field power bonus," Yugi said confused why Dorothy would summon such a weak monster, "It makes no sense to play it in attack mode."

 **Rescue Rabbit. ATK/DEF: 390/130**

"Is this some kind of...joke?" Stephanie asked incredulously, sounding slightly confused and offended for her monsters that Dorothy thought that was a worthy match-up. "Yep, and you're the punch-line!" Dorothy winked, "By sending Rescue Rabbit to the graveyard, I can use his special power to Special Summon two level four or lower monsters to the field with the same name from my deck," She fished through her deck and picked two monsters, "And I choose Gladiator Beast Laquari!"

Two pillars of flame shot up on her field dramatically before revealing an identical pair of anthropomorphic tigers wearing bright, bold red armor like her other Gladiator Beasts. Both had a long, messy, spiky mane of reddish-brown hair and identical, piercing, toxic green eyes.

 **(2X) Gladiator Beast Laquari. Attribute: FIRE. Tribe: BEAST-WARRIOR/EFFECT. Lv: 4. ATK/DEF: 1800/400**

"And because they're both Beast-Warriors they can gain a field power bonus from either the meadow or the forest," Bakura said with wide, startled eyes at the sudden turn around. Sure enough, both tigers' power grew.

 **(2x) Laquari. ATK/DEF: 2340/520**

"Well, that ain't good," Joey remarked. "But her swan is still stronger," Lapis said encouragingly, but then, a spiralling vortex appeared beneath her two Gladiators' feet, making everyone gasp.

"Hey, what's going on?" Bismuth asked confused. "She didn't play Polymerization, did she?" Peridot asked trying to spy the spell card.

"I said that my Gladiators are old, didn't I?" Dorothy shrugged. "That's right, that like Stephanie's Crystal Beasts, they developed and changed over that time, gaining new abilities they didn't have before," Yugi said. "Well one of those abilities, is the ability to fuse without the need of a Polymerization or any other special card," Dorothy said with a grin, much to everyone's shock as the two monsters began to merge into one, "Its called Contact Fusion; by shuffling both of my Laquari back into my deck, I can summon Gladiator Beast Essedarii!"

Her new monster could only be described as a gorilla on a futuristic, yellow-plated chariot of shorts armed with a matching shield and spiked club.

 **Gladiator Beast Essedarii. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: BEAST/FUSION/EFFECT. Lv: 5. ATK/DEF: 2500/1400**

"Its stronger than her swan and her Sapphire!" Peridot exclaimed with a slightly panicky tone to her voice. "Plus, it gets a power boost from the forest on top of that," Tristan said in alarm.

 **Essedarii. ATK/DEF: 3250/1820**

"As beautiful as your swan is, I believe in weeding out the bigger threat first," Dorothy stated before ordering, "Essedarii, destroy her Lapis Lazuli Swan with Titanium Slam!" Her Gladiator charged at Stephanie's swan, swinging its club and striking the magnificent bird from the side, bringing out a cry of pain before she was destroyed, becoming a geode with rich, deep blue crystals that was speckled with gold.

 **Stephanie LPs: 1090**

"Unlike my other beasts, Essedarii can't tag in or out," Dorothy said before placing a card face-down, "I'll place two cards face-down and end my turn."

"I'll start by activating my trap card; Crystal Raigeki!" Stephanie said flipping one of her face-downs, "By sacrificing one of my Geodes, I can destroy your Essedarii!"

Her agate geode disappeared in a flash of a brownish-red light before shooting up into the sky as dark storm clouds formed above the field before crackling like electricity. A bolt then went flying towards Essedarii, who didn't appear concerned at the incoming lightning strike.

"I activate _**my**_ trap card," Dorothy retorted as she turned one of her face-downs around, "Destruction Jammer, canceling your Raigeki and saving my Essedarii!"

An orangey-yellow force-field formed around Essedarii, protectiving it from the lightning bolt.

"So close!" Bismuth frowned fists clenched tight. "Yugi, is there any chance of Steph beating that thing?" Tea asked in concern. "I really don't know," Yugi replied, "I don't know much about her deck and the monsters in it," He turned to Peridot, "What do you guys think?"

"To be honest, we didn't see much of her monsters," Peridot answered honestly with a shrug. "Things kinda got...escalated," Lapis added glancing away surely, prompting the humans to share unsure looks, "I did see one monster that has the potential to beat Dorothy's Gladiator Beasts, but I'm not sure."

"She's almost at her halfway point of her life points," Bakura said in concern, "I'm not sure if she really can turn this around."

Sure enough, all Stephanie could do was change the position of her two monsters as she said, "I change both Sapphire and Hessonite to defense mode and end my turn." Sapphire Pegasus and Hessonite Hyena both crouched into defensive positions; Sapphire Pegasus folding her wings in front of herself as added effect.

"My go then," Dorothy said drawing a new card, "I summon Gladiator Beast Vespasiaus!" Her new monster was, once again, anthropomorphic, this time resembling a blue lizard in darker blue armor wielding a traditional one-handed sword and had deep purple eyes. Both Crystal Beasts tensed at the large aquatic creature, Hessonite Hyena baring her teeth and Sapphire Pegasus lowering her horn, preparing to strike if attacked.

 **Gladiator Beast Vespasiaus. Attribute: WATER. Tribe: SEA SERPENT/EFFECT. Lv: 7. ATK/DEF: 2300/0**

"That thing is huge!" Joey cried in alarm at the sight of the large sea serpent-warrior. "But thankfully not a Beast of any sort," Jasper commented in slight relief. "That does Steph little good though," Tristan said through gritted teeth, "That thing almost has twenty-five-hundred attack points!"

"Vespasiaus attack Sapphire Pegasus!" Dorothy ordered as her new monster's blade glowed with a water-like aura, "Aquarius Blade!" Vespasiaus lunged at Sapphire Pegasus, who braced herself before being destroyed with a swing of his blade, "Now, Essedarii, attack her hyena!" Her gorilla obeyed, leaving Stephanie's field vacant as her Hessonite Hyena was destroyed with a pained yelp, both she and Sapphire Pegasus reforming as Geodes, Sapphire Pegasus' having a rich, icy blue crystal seeping through, while Hessonite Hyena's had a more orangey-yellowish crystal.

"Aw man, this ain't good," Joey said in worry. "With the battle over, Vespasiaus tags out," Dorothy said as her sea serpent vanishes from the field as she shuffled its card back into her deck, then picked a different card, "And Gladiator Beast Augustus tags in to take his place!"

Once again, a new anthropomorphic male creature appears on her field, this being much darker in appearance compared to the rest of her monsters. This one resembled a bird man, much like Bestiari, but looked more like a raven or a vulture in comparison with his more pronounced and sharper beak and dark plumage. Another difference was his bat like wings, blood red eyes and reptilian, almost dragon-like tail. His armor was purple lined with a whitish metal and decorated with red gemstones, and he was armed with an elaborate sword that matched his armor.

 **Gladiator Beast Augustus. Attribute: DARK. Tribe: WINGED-BEAST/EFFECT. Lv: 8. ATK/DEF: 2600/1000**

"Wow..." The boys murmured in awe of the dark warrior.

"And with that and the power bonus of rocky terrain, I use Augustus' second ability to summon Gladiator Beast Andal in defense mode," Dorothy said with a satisfied smile, "Looks like this duel is as good as mine, now isn't it?"

Her second new monster was an anthropomorphic bear in blue Ancient Roman armor with dark fur and dark gray eyes, crouched in a defensive position.

 **Gladiator Beast Andal. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: BEAST-WARRIOR. ATK/DEF: 1900/1500**

 **Augustus. ATK/DEF: 3380/1300**

 **Andal. ATK/DEF: 2470/1950**

"She's got a point, as much as hate to admit it," Tea commented, "Most of the monsters Steph has summoned so far, without the power bonus, doesn't have more then two thousand attack points, which both of Dorothy's have over three thousand."

 _'They're right, what am I going to do?'_ Stephanie thought unsurely as she stared down at her deck, hand pausing over it and shaking with her doubt, eyes fading back into deep, chocolate-brown, _'Even if I do have a few monsters that could give her stronger Gladiators a run for their money, I need to have the required cards on the field and her monsters will destroy them before I can set it all up...'_ She squeezed her eyes closed, fresh tears prickling her eyes, _'I...I...I don't know...what...to do...'_ No one seemed to notice her cheek-marks beginning to pulse and glow in a pattern of two pulses that each lasted every two seconds and steady glow that lasted about three to five seconds.

Meanwhile, in the Sun Incinerator, Priyanka Maheswaran sighed as she gently threaded her fingers through her daughter's hair one more time before looking over the other citizens that Rhodonite had holed up in one of the larger rooms in Laramie's ship. After the initial awe and wonder of beginning in another room within an alien spaceship wore off, worry and mild panic started up in a select few of her temporary roommates; particularly the parents of the teens that were missing and fighting the horde of thugs outside, along with Ronaldo and the former mayor's paranoia of kidnapping being no help in easing anyone's worries.

Personally, as beautiful and amazing to look at as Gem architecture was with its smooth, crystal-like structures and sharp, triangular designs was, there was only so much of it could to distract her from the situation. Same could be said for their current hostesses. As adorable as Padparascha and as adorkable Rhodonite was, it only worked for so long.

Plus, she still had a patient to watch over. Lying in a wheeled bed, Gregory Universe still laid a still as a board, completely unresponsive or aware of the world around him, hooked up to a respirator Lars had wheeled in on her insistence when they were getting him out of the hospital. Priyanka had to admit, she did not like how her newly acquainted friend, who was normally so full of life and always having a smile to give, so...voided. Priyanka never knew Rose Quartz very well personally when the pink Gem was still around, as none of the Gems seemed one hundred percent interested in learning about human biology, she only met her after Rose had gotten pregnant and the Gem wanted to know everything so she could guarantee her daughter perfect health, as there was little else she could actually do for her, she knew enough to know that if Rose was here by her side to see Greg now, she'd most likely be heart-broken.

As Priyanka left her family's side to check-up on her patient, she did a double-take, startled, "Huh?"

"Is something wrong, Mom?" Connie asked looking at her mother. "Did you draw on Mr. Universe's face?" Priyanka demanded her daughter. "No!" Connie replied a little harsher then she meant it sound. "Was Onion anywhere near Mr. Universe?" Priyanka asked. "...no...honey...?" Mr. Maheswaran said unsurely at the incredulously and very confused look on his wife's face as she spluttered, while making motions between her patient and the others.

Priyanka's eye-twitched before looking really concerned as she motioned to Greg and asked, a little louder then she meant, "Since when did Greg have tattoos on his cheeks?"

"Huh?" They replied coming over and sure enough, one each of Greg Universe's cheeks, were a perfectly identical pair of octave clef music notes, one on each cheek; both a bright, bold, almost neon with how they were supernaturally glowing and pulsing, orange.

Back at the duel, the spirit of the earrings felt another mental-breakdown coming from her lighter half and quickly took the initiative. Eyes bleeding back into pink, pupils slitting slightly as she shifted control into her favor, she took deep, even breaths through her nose, trying to cool the raging emotions that boiled in her veins.

 _'As much as I don't like forcibly taking most of the control; Stephanie needs to take and break and properly process and channel her emotions and thought, else, we'll never get the Crystal Gems and Dad back,'_ The spirit of the Millennium Earrings thought to herself with remorse, gently pinching the bridge of her nose as she cleared her mind, she then refocused on the duel and worried her lower lip, unable to rebuff the real Stephanie's concerns about the situation, _'But even I can't see around Dorothy's Gladiators with the cards I have right now,'_ She glanced at her deck, reaching for her next card, but like her lighter half, paused with doubt rearing its ugly head, _'I...I don't know if I can do this...I...I can't even protect her from that creep...how am I suppose to help her win this duel...how am I suppose to help her beat Pegasus...?'_

 _ **"By trusting in yourself, for a start,"**_ A voice called out, making her gasp mentally to herself, eyes widening as she found herself in a strange realm, the rush of water filling her ears as gold stretched out as far as she could see.

All around, she was surrounded by a strange, but beautiful golden sea-like area, but strangely the gleaming liquid only came up to her mid-shins. All around, dozens, maybe hundreds or thousands up golden waterfalls rained down, filling the spaces between the purplish-pink, crystal like landscape, the bluish-purpley sky twinkling with silvery-pink and silvery blue stars, random pieces of crystal floating harmlessly, almost lazily along with the hazy cotton-candy like clouds, what looked like different colored jellyfish floated through the sky as if they were in their natural underwater habitat.

 _ **"Hello, young lady,"**_ The voice said again, making her turn and her heart seemed to jump into her throat.

He looked younger then she recalled from Stephanie's memories. Head full of long, wild dark, chocolate brown hair pulled up into a ponytail similar to how Amethyst would do up her own hair, save for the thick locks framing his smiling face, almost hiding his twin bright orange octave clef music note cheek marks. He wasn't doned in the usual, causal, loose, rock and roll clothes Stephanie had ever seen him wearing. Instead, he donned a fully-buttoned up, semi-formal, old-fashioned, European mauve-purple jacket with silvery-purple shoulder-pads with darker purple pants tucked into a pair of black boots with a matching pair of gloves.

Grasped in both hands, but resting on one shoulder was a simple, but beautiful Spanish-styled parasol. The canopy was made of fine indigo silk decorated elegantly with wisps of violet and pink dotted with silver, resembling a nebula, the support and silk arranged and styled to resemble a spider's web. The supporting poles and handle were made of smooth pale periwinkle blue material. The ferrule was curled into a fine, shiny point, extending past the usual size to sit atop a sphere that had a little pair of bat wings on it and a pear-cut amethyst embedded on one side. It honestly reminded her of those fancy umbrellas Japanese dancers would use on stage.

 _ **"You're..."**_ She said in shock once she managed to find her voice. He nodded in response, _**"Stephanie's father,"**_ He offered her a gentle smile, which seemed to light up his youthful face, _**"Take it from someone who felt the pressure of a lot of responsibly before; things are never easy, but that doesn't mean you should concede defeat before you know for certain things can't change."**_

 _ **"But...Steph...Bandit Keith...I...the others..."**_ The spirit stammered as she tried to protest, the memories playing freshly in her mind. _**"Are out of your control; her friends are fully capable to take care of themselves, I wouldn't worry about them,"**_ Greg replied gently as he closed his parasol, eyes on its crystal, _**"As for Bandit Keith...karma is a funny thing; it plays on its own terms, but it always fills its debts."**_

The crypticness of his words weighed heavily in the spirit's mind as she mulled them over.

 _ **"The past is a difficult thing; there are a lot of things everyone wishes they could change, but it only hurts as much as you let it,"**_ Greg continued with a distant, but knowing expression as he looked up at the sky, as if relieving a memory, before turning a soft smile to her, _**"Same with the future; Stephanie said it herself to Mai during Yugi's duel against Weevil Underwood; no one has a crystal ball; no one can predict for certain with how things are going to turn out, as long as you have faith in your deck and in yourself; there's little reason why you can't do anything you don't set your mind to, dear."**_

Then, everything around them turned dark and gray and the spirit found herself being pulled away despite not moving, and Greg slowly seemed to be getting farther away from her. _**"Wait!"**_ The spirit called, _**"Don't go!"**_

She shook her head as she seemed to snap out of a trance, finding herself back at the duel, hand still frozen over her deck.

"Man, Steph's choking," Tristan winced over her hesitance, "I think she's realizing how much of a corner she's in."

"No way, no how," Lapis denied, "Stephanie Quartz-Universe never gives up, no what the odds are against her!"

"But Lapis..." Tea said unsurely. "No!" The blue Gem persisted, "I know my friend!"

"She's right!" Joey agreed surprising Tea, Tristan and Bakura, "I might not know Stephanie for very long, but I do know she's come way too far to just give up now!"

"He's right!" Yugi agreed before calling up encouragingly, "Come on Stephanie, you can still turn this around!"

"C'mon kiddo!" Bismuth encouraged. "Remember the Crystal Gems!" Jasper added. "Your father!" Peridot added making the spirit take a deep breath once more before regaining her confidence.

 _'They're all right,'_ She thought preparing to draw, _'I am in a corner, but I've come too far, been through too much and have too much riding on all this just to stop now!'_ She drew her card and upon seeing, her eyes widened as a plan slowly hatched in her mind.

"Well, are you going to play your turn or are you going to quit while your ahead?" Dorothy asked not at all impatient, but more curious to what her opponent would do. Imagine her surprise when the alter-ego of Stephanie let out a small laugh, prompting the brunette duelist to ask, "What's so funny?"

"Oh Dorothy, don't get me wrong; this has been one hell of a duel," The dual-haired girl stated a smirk slowly forming, "But I think its high time I turn this around to _my_ favor."

"Oh, and how are you going to do that when I have two monsters with over three-hundred attack points?" Dorothy asked raising a skeptical eyebrow. "Simple, by using more then one beast," Stephanie stated as she revealed a magic card in her hand, "Starting with card, Crystal Beacon." As soon as it was played, two of her Geodes started to glow, sending multi-colored lights up into the sky as the name of the card suggested like a homing beacon, prompting many to shield their eyes.

"What's with the light show?" Joey yelped. "Too bright!" Tristan shouted.

"If they're at least two Crystal Geodes on the field, I can Special Summon one to the field from my deck," Stephanie stated as she fished a card from her deck before playing the one she wanted, "And I choose Ruby Carbuncle." Sapphire gasped in surprise at the name.

Stephanie's new monster resembled a cute, but small, it was honestly about the size of a house cat. It was a light purplist-blue color with a much lighter underbelly and big red eyes, standing on all fours. It had two pairs of wing-like ears and its bushy, almost fox-like tail had a cabochon sphere ruby attached to the end of it. Ruby gave a loud cry as she bounded out of the forest like her comrades did, striking a strong, proud pose atop the same rock Hessonite did, chest puffed out, but the effect was ruined when she suddenly sneezed, nearly knocking herself off the rock.

 **Ruby Carbuncle. Attribute: LIGHT. Tribe: FARIY/EFFECT. Lv: 3. ATK/DEF: 300/300**

"Aww!" Tea gushed again over the adorable little creature and this time, Lapis and Peridot couldn't help joining in, finding her cute as well, even Bismuth was smiling at the sight and if one looked close enough, Jasper's lips were twitching. Sapphire also couldn't gushing over her partner's card counter-part, finding her just as adorable as the real thing.

"Okay, I can admit it," Joey said unabashedly, "That thing is cuter then a big-eyed kitten."

"A lot of Steph's monsters seem to have that going for them," Yugi commented with a smile as Ruby scratched at one pair of her ears before focusing on the fight.

"Hey, wait, she's a fairy!" Dorothy said in shock as Ruby's ATK and DEF started to raise, "She shouldn't be getting a field power bonus!"

"Maybe not from the forest, rocky hill or meadow," The spirit of the earrings shrugged, a cool smirk on her lips, "But just as the night empowers creatures of darkness, the day empowers creatures of light, and my Ruby is LIGHT attributed."

 **Ruby Carbuncle. ATK/DEF: 390/390**

"Still not very impressive," Dorothy admitted. "Maybe not by herself," The spirit replied with a tiny shrug, "But you'll find what **_my_** Beasts lack in individual power they make up for in their teamwork," She then flipped over her face-down, "Next I reveal my face-down; the magic card Crystal Promise, which allows me to bring one of my Crystal Beasts back from their Geodes, and I choose Sapphire Pegasus!" The selected Geode broke off its rock formation, leaving the glowing blue crystal which started flying about before finally reforming Sapphire Pegasus rearing and neighing mid-air as she regained her power bonus before landing next to Ruby Carbuncle.

"What gives?" Tristan said confused, "Wouldn't her swan have been the better choice attack power wise?" He looked to Bismuth, confused at the wide grin that was forming as she looked at the monsters, probably already knowing where Stephanie was going with this, as did Lapis, Peridot and Jasper judging from their smiles, though Jasper looked as if she were grimacing more then anything as Ruby suddenly started bounding around, wagging her tail as if dancing.

"What the-?" Dorothy said confused as Sapphire Pegasus started kicking her legs and opening and folding her wings, as if dancing as well, "What the hell are they doing? Is the arena malfunctioning?" The spirit of the earrings let out a soft, but chilling laugh that sent a shiver up everyone's spines, "What's so funny? What on Earth are they doing?"

"Everyone has a different way of doing things and fusion is no different, wouldn't you agree?" The two-toned girl replied with a cold smile, making everyone's eyes widened, "For most Duel Monsters, its a simple jump into a spinning void, others lung at each other, but its quiet...different for Gems...more..." She half-lidded her eyes as she placed a hand over her heart as she said more huskily, "Passionate." Yugi's face couldn't get redder at the sound of her voice, earning knowing smirks from Joey, Tristan and, surprisingly, Bakura, who clapped him on the back.

"Fusion?" Dorothy spluttered, "But you didn't use Polymerization!"

"And neither did you," The slightly taller girl retorted coolly, much to Dorothy's shock. "Contact..." Dorothy whispered in shock as Ruby Carbuncle jumped and spun in the air before running to Sapphire Pegasus. "You really think your Gladiators were the only ones who could use it?" The spirit of the earrings asked arching a thin pink brow, before sliding her eyes closed, placing her remaining hand of cards down before bringing her hands together as if in prayer as Sapphire Pegasus knelt down on one leg, lowering her head for Ruby Carbuncle to climb onto her horn, then onto her back.

"What is she...?" Tristan started to ask, but was cut off as wind started to pick up around them and sparks of light began forming all around, not just in the arena, but around the outside of the arena, outside its digital influence as the young Crystal Duelist's cheek marks glowed a more pro-dominant shade of pink. "What the-?" Joey jumped in shock, "What's goin' on?"

"Is this the power of the Earrings?" Yugi questioned mostly to Bakura. "It...it doesn't feel...like Shadow Magic..." The British human answered confused and wary. "So, then, its her Gemstone?" Tea questioned. "I've never seen any Gem do anything like this," Bismuth replied. "Neither have I," Jasper agreed shading her eyes with shock as Sapphire Pegasus lifted her head, making Ruby Carbuncle tumble down the mare's neck onto her back.

Ruby Carbuncle braced herself as Sapphire Pegasus spread her wings and flapped them, lifting them into the air before letting her consciousness go. Sapphire Pegasus smiled as she did the same. Their bodies and began to morph glowed as the wind and sparks intensified as their Mistress began to speak:

 _Wings of wind, swift and sure,_

 _Heart of light, strong and bright,_

 _Bring strength with knowledge, both absolute and premature,_

 _Form a Guardian as your souls unite,_

Sapphire covered her mouth, speechless as the lights began to twinkle out of existence as a beautiful woman floated down to touch the ground harmlessly. She was had olive tan to her thin, but lithe figure. She had short, curly, fluffy dark hair that framed her heart-shaped face, brushing her chin lightly and her eyes were a soft, but strong, doe-shaped reddish-purple, a strange, thick black line cut across her forehead. She was dressed in an old-fashioned, 1500-era European gown that had a high-waist-line that was a deep red. The skirt split open in a modern fashion, almost resembling jacket-tails, revealing a pair of skin tight black leggings, which disappeared into a pair of reddish-purple leather boots that had silver hourglass-shaped buckles. The sleeves of her dress puffed on the square-neckline before draping down her arms in a darker red. Sitting in the center of the neckline, pinned in place was an oval-cut red rhodolite garnet, a matching pear-cut garnet gemstone hung from her neck from a silver necklace, several cushion-cut garnets were embedded into her thick bracelets and her final accessory was a silver head-ring, decorated with matching garnets in round-cut. In her hand; a tall wood staff decorated with a futuristic hourglass that had pale dust in the bottom half and gold in the upper.

Opening her eyes, Stephanie couldn't help smiling as more bittersweet reminiscent tears as her spirit finally, gently shifted back control, whispering, "Hello...Crystal Myth...Garnet...Mother Time..." Tears slowly trickled down Sapphire's cheeks, wishing Ruby was at her side at that moment.

 **Crystal Myth Garnet Mother Time. Attribute: LIGHT. Tribe: SPELLCASTER/FUSION/EFFECT. Lv: 6. ATK/DEF: 2100/2500**

"Garnet..." Lapis and Peridot whispered in stunned-awe. "Beautiful..." Joey and Tristan murmured in awe. "Of course she has her own card..." Jasper chuckled mirthlessly with a shake of her head. "I hope you two can see this..." Bismuth whispered as tears pricked her eyes. "Crystal Myth..." Yugi and Bakura said in awe.

 **Garnet Mother Time. ATK/DEF: 2730/3250**

"She's beautiful," Dorothy admitted, "But even with the power bonus of the day, she's still too weak."

"I still have one more magic card to play," Stephanie replied revealing it, "Its called Crystal Release, it increases Mother Time's attack by an added eight hundred."

Garnet Mother Time smiled as her gemstones all glowed and radiated power, casting deep red lights across the field, making both Essedarii and Augustus tense.

 **Garnet Mother Time. ATK/DEF: 3530/3250**

"Now she's stronger then both her Gladiators!" Peridot grinned as the others cheered, Dorothy looked fairly concerned.

"Garnet Mother Time attack her Essedarii!" Stephanie ordered, "Time Wrap Nova!" Garnet Mother Time spun her staff above her head as the dust inside the hourglass turned a deep indigo, the light shining through the glass, the intensity almost blinding before she aimed at Essedarii, a swirling flare of indigo and silver sailed across the field, the holographic grass that was grazed turned brown and brittle, leaving a path up to Essedarii, who tried to shield himself, but was turned to dust in an instant, blowing away in the wind, much to Dorothy and Augustus' shocks.

 **Dorothy's LPs: 1330**

"She did it!" Lapis cheered for her friend's little victory. "Amazing..." Bakura murmured in awe of the spellcaster's power as she twirled her staff once more before relaxing as the battle finished. "With that I end my turn," Stephanie said with a more at ease smile.

"Gotta admit, you're better then I thought," Dorothy admitted with a smile, "Defiantly wasn't expecting Contact Fusion."

"You'd be surprised by what just two Crystal Beasts are capable of," Stephanie smiled fondly down at her displayed monsters, "I always am."

"My draw," Dorothy said hoping for something to way things her way and smiled, "I play another Rescue Rabbit!" Another cute rabbit appeared on the field, "And if you didn't guess, I'll send him to the graveyard so I can summon two new monsters; Gladiators Beast Bestiari and Gladiator Beast Darius!"

The new monster that appeared along side Bestiari was only describable as an anthropomorphic horse with long dark hair and wore red armor armed with a electric whip. Stern, age-wary cherry-red eyes stared down Garnet Mother Time, who stared back with a respectful nod, which he returned.

 **Gladiator Beast Darius. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: BEAST-WARRIOR/EFFECT. Lv: 4. ATK/DEF: 1700/1300**

"Okay, that's a rather impressive monster," Tristan admitted. "But even with the power bonus," Jasper said with narrowed eyes, "None of them are even close to being able to beat Garnet Mother Time."

 **Darius. ATK/DEF: 2470/1690**

"Why summon...unless..." Yugi murmured as he speculated Dorothy's plan, "Another fusion!"

"Ding-ding!" Dorothy giggled as her three monsters began to merge as one once more, "Say hello to Gladiator Beast Gyzarus!" A humanoid-birdman even larger then Bestiari appeared on the field, its wings being bigger and green in color and was clad heavy-looking armor, feathers of a reddish-orange color were arranged like hair on its head and its eyes were a dark purple.

 **Gladiator Beast Gyzarus. Attribute: DARK. Tribe: WINGED-BEAST/FUSION/EFFECT. Lv: 6. ATK/DEF: 2400/1500**

Stephanie tensed along with Garnet Mother Time at the new monster, "I'm guessing this guy has a special ability apart from being able to return to the deck, right?"

"Now you're getting it!" Dorothy winked playfully, "Gyzarus' abiltiy allows me to destroy two cards on the field."

 **Gyzarus. ATK/DEF: 3120/1950**

"But that means-!" Yugi gasped with wide eyes as the others gasped as well. "Yep, I choose one of the Geodes and Garnet Mother Time!" Dorothy stated her targets and Gyzarus aimed his arm-guns as Garnet Mother Time clenched her teeth, twirling her staff in front of herself in attempt to defend as her opponent fired, but was destroyed, he then fired again, destroying Hessonite Hyena's Geode.

"Whenever a Crystal Myth is destroyed, the components used to summon them are returned to the field in defense mode!" Stephanie said as both Ruby Carbuncle and Sapphire Pegasus both appeared on the field in defensive positions. "Well, Gyzarus still has his attack!" Dorothy retorted, "Destroy Ruby Carbuncle!" Sapphire looked away from the screen, unable to watch as her partner's counterpart was destroyed and reformed as a Geode.

"Aw man, just when this was lookin' to be in Steph's favor too!" Joey complained in disbelief. "Its like watching two equal warriors constantly in a stalemate," Bakura remarked making then Gems all nod in agreement.

"And since Gyzarus battled, I can return him to my deck and special summon two Gladiator Beasts to take his place, except for Bestiari," Dorothy said as Gyzarus disappeared from the field, "Welcome back Laquari and Gladiator Beast Murmillo!" Her fire-type monster reappeared and crossed his arms patiently for the next battle, as what could only be described as a fishman without legs appeared next to him.

 **Gladiator Beast Murmillo. Attribute: WATER. Tribe: FISH/EFFECT. Lv: 3. ATK/DEF: 800/400**

"Did she seriously just summon a fish?" Joey asked in disbelief, before remembering one of Lapis' monsters was a fish, and quickly added, "Not that there's anythin' wrong with that!" Lapis just arched a brow at him as his face turned red. "Smooth one there Joey," Tea commented.

"But not completely out of place," Bakura said, "As a Fish-Type monster and a Water Attribute, Murmillo gains no field power bonus at all, it doesn't make any sense to summon it in attack mode."

"Unless she plans to use it in another fusion next turn," Peridot pointed out, which made them concede the point. The only reason to summon a monster so weak was to use it to summon something stronger.

"I draw," Stephanie said drawing her next card and her eyes widened in surprise, before turning into a small smile, "I think its high time I use a rabbit of my own," Dorothy blinked in surprise as Stephanie summoned a new monster, "Say hello to Crystal Beast Pearl Cottontail." Sapphire suppressed a squeal at the sight of the monster that appeared, bounding out of the tree line like Ruby Carbuncle did, only it stopped atop a raised roll of land and stood up straight on his hind-paws at rap-attention, ears straight up.

This monster was an adorable, but also pretty cottontail rabbit female with a light shade of grey fur with darker spots along her back with a white underbelly and tail, her eyes being a very pretty baby blue. Like her other comrades, she wore a regalia, hers being golden and resembled a harness with matching bands on her wrists and ankles, each studded with shiny white and silver pearls, while a much larger pale green, semi-round cut pearl sat in the sun-styled regalia, framed elegantly by the triangular prongs that made up the 'rays' of the sun-symbol.

 **Pearl Cottontail. Attribute: LIGHT. Tribe: BEAST/EFFECT. Lv: 2. ATK/DEF: 200/250**

"...I'm not sure if that was any better then the fish," Tristan stated simply, "I really don't."

"On the bright side, as both a LIGHT and BEAST type monster," Yugi said optimistically, "Her rabbit gets a double power bonus since its still daytime and the forest field." Pearl Cottontail just scratched at one of her ears as her stats increased.

 **Pearl Cottontail. ATK/DEF: 320/400**

"Yeah, still not very impressive," Tristan admitted cringing at the warning look Jasper and Bismuth shot him, "I mean, its not even half as strong as Murmillo!"

"As much as I hate to say it," Peridot said, "I have to agree, even with a double power bonus, its still not all that impressive," The pearls in the brands and regalia began to glow, "Perhaps I stand corrected."

"When my Cottontail is summoned and I control more Geodes then there are monsters on my field," Stephanie explained, "I can add two spell cards to my hand, and I already know exactly which ones I needed," She fished out the two spell cards from her deck, "Next, I play one of them, E Force!" A large red capital 'e' appeared, glowing softly against the sunlight.

"It allows me to Special Summon one of my Crystal Beasts from their Geode," Stephanie continued as the 'e' dissolved into red dust, which was absorbed into one of the Geodes, "And I choose Amethyst Cat!" Her magnificent wildcat broke free of her Geode with a loud yowl, before bounding over to Pearl Cottontail's side.

"Why bring her back?" Dorothy said in confusion, "Wouldn't your Lapis Lazuli Swan be the better choice since the field power bonus gives her over two thousand attack points?" Her eyes widened as Pearl Cottontail rabbit started prancing around much like how Ruby Carbuncle did, while Amethyst Cat started rearing to kick her legs around in a dance like fashion and swinging her tail around in a saucy fashion, making Laquari blush darkly, "Again?"

"Did you really think Garnet Mother Time was my only Crystal Myth?" Stephanie asked before once again bringing up her as sparks of a pale greenish-blue light danced across the field along with a subtle shake in the arena as she once again spoke in chant:

 _Light of color, run on swift feet,_

 _Wildcat of earth, pride be heard in your roar,_

 _Through hail and rain and fiery sleet,_

 _May you settle the final score,_

Pearl Cottontail jumped onto Amethyst Cat's back as she reared onto her hind legs once more and the Crystal rabbit climbed onto the wildcat's head before they began to merge into one. Everyone watched in shocked-awe as a female human silhouette formed in the light of the fusion.

"Give a warm welcome to Opal Kunapipi!" Stephanie announced as her new monster revealed herself.

Opal Kunapipi was a slender, but tall aboriginal woman with long hair pulled into a high-ponytail, face, arms and legs painted with white markings, her eyes a burning bluish-green. She wore a cropped, creamy-colored tube-top with a matching skirt with strips of furry pelts that covered her thighs, but didn't quite reach her knees, but not in an inappropriate way. A long furry cloak hung from her shoulders, pinned in place with a piece of bone fashioned into brooch with a pale opal. She was armed with a long wooden spear and a red and white shield, a similarly colored boomerang hung from her belt.

 **Opal Kunapipi. Attribute: LIGHT. Tribe: WARRIOR/FUSION/EFFECT. Lv: 6. ATK/DEF: 2000/1500**

"Kuna-wha?" Joey, Tristan, Tea, Lapis, Jasper and Bismuth said in sync, clearly confused. "Kuna _pipi_ , I've heard of her from when I tried to learn more about the diverse human cultures," Surprisingly, it was Peridot who spoke up, much to the group's surprise, "She's an Australian Aboriginal mother goddess and goddess of creation."

"Goddess?" Lapis asked confused. "A female supernatural being that no one can prove without a reasonable doubt exist, that humans used to worship," Bakura explained patiently, "They are often a representation for a physical embodiement of something or some virtue, like nature or the sea or even an emotion like love; in fact, I think the closest I can compare them to is your Diamonds." Jasper, Bismuth and Lapis gave an 'O' expression of understanding, looking at Stephanie's new monster with unsure eyes.

"But what's a mother goddess?" Bismuth asked. "A mother goddess is set apart from other gods is that their always seen as manifestations of nature and always referenced to with fertility, creation and, well, being a mother in general," Once again, it was Peridot who answered, "They're believed to have created either the earth itself or mankind, but every culture has its own version of one."

"I've heard of her too," Yugi said, much to Tristan, Tea and Joey's surprises, "When Grandpa isn't exploring Egyptian crypts, he's investigating foreign cultures, mythologies and tombs; Kunapipi is an Aboriginal goddess from Australia and she's also a patron goddess for heroes and warriors."

"So, as a Warrior Monster, she gets a power bonus from the meadow like Joey's warriors!" Lapis said in realization. "And as a LIGHT monster, she also gets a power bonus from being played during the day just like Pearl Cottontail!" Joey grinned as well.

 **Opal Kunapipi. ATK/DEF: 3200/2400**

"She's beautiful," Dorothy complimented sincerely. "Thank you, and trust me, she's a lot more then just a pretty face," Stephanie replied, "Because even without the power bonuses or her special abilities, this duel is over, because with her having over three thousand and your Murmillo having under one thousand, I think we can both guess who this is going to go, especially since you don't have any cards to defend!" Dorothy nodded in response before the hybrid ordered, "Kunapipi attack with Daylight Strike!"

Opal Kunapipi spun her spear in her hands before speeding towards the fish as it glowed a golden with sunlight and she stabbed hr spear straight through Murmillo's armor, causing the fish to become covered in golden cracks before being destroyed. Dorothy and Laquari both flinched a little as the brunette duelist's life points dropped to zero.

 **Dorothy LPs: 0**

"She did it!" The humans, Lapis and Peridot cheered as Bismuth pumped her fist, Jasper couldn't help smiling at the girl's victory. "Good game Stephanie," Dorothy smiled in good natured defeat, making the two-toned girl smile back. "Same here...Dorothy," Stephanie replied closing her eyes with a more peaceful smile and sigh, shoulders relaxing as Laquari and Opal Kunapipi disappeared, shortly followed by the field graphics.

 _ **"Stephanie..."**_ The spirit of the earrings said softly with a remorseful tone, _**"I...forgive me...I hadn't meant to take control like that..."**_

 _ **"Don't be,"**_ Stephanie sighed cheek-marks glowing faintly against her and her spirit's skin, she gave a tiny smile, _**"I...I needed a moment to just...piece myself back together...you made a call and to me, you made the right one..."**_ Her brow creased and her nose wrinkled cutely in confused thought, before glancing over her shoulder as the platform began to lower, _**"What do I call you? I know the spirit anchor to Yugi's puzzle decided to go with Yami, do you have a name?"**_

The taller girl seemed stare at her for what felt like hours within their shared mental connection, but in reality, it was only no more than maybe three seconds before got a distant, yet confused gleam in her eyes before whispering a sigh before finally answering, _**"Truth be told, I have no idea who I am, or rather, who I used to be, its always like something in a dream or a movie, something so close, yet so far away, its you, but not you, but its also like a puzzle; fuzzy and incomplete; but I am open to suggestions."**_

Stephanie hummed in thought in response to the admission, a deep sinking feeling of sympathy and uncertainty dropping from her chest to her stomach. She couldn't imagine not having her memory like that. Not even being able to remember her own name, much less her family? It made her shiver.

 _ **"How about Primrose?"**_ Stephanie suggested after a moment of thought and another of hesitance, _**"Its Latin for 'the first rose'; there's such a thing as pink roses and you're certainly the first female spirit I've ever met."**_ She didn't know if she had access to her own memories and knew of her mother, she hadn't meant for it to also sound like she was naming her after her mother. As much as she felt a warm feeling she felt towards the spirit, she didn't want to make her think she was trying to replace her mother with her or that she was trying to put expectations or anything like that on her.

The spirit didn't need the mind link to guess what was going on through her lighter half's mind and hummed in thought, _**"Hmm, Primrose..."**_ She smiled, despite somewhere in the back of her mind finding something about it strongly familiar, but couldn't quite place, _**"I love it, thank you Stephanie."**_ Stephanie smiled as her cheek-marks stopped glowing and she stepped off the platform just as Yugi met her there and pulled her into a hug, surprising her as she blushed, much to the newly christened Primrose's amusement.

"Congratulations Steph!" Yugi grinned at her his own cheeks noticeably flushed as he spun her around, "I knew you could do it!"

Stephanie smiled shyly as she returned the hug before they separated as Dorothy cleared her throat, a knowing smile on her face.

"Looks like you're getting into the castle first," Dorothy smiled as she handed over the fairly won Star Chips, "You've earned it."

"Thanks," Stephanie smiled, "Hopefully you'll still be able to join us."

Dorothy shrugged, "Maybe." She then gave a little wave as she walked off, which most of them returned as Stephanie placed her final two Star Chips into her glove.

"Now we're all ready tah face Pegasus," Joey said making everyone gain a serious expression as they all collectively turned to stare down the towering castle just a short distance away, "Together."

 _'Hang on Grandpa...I'm coming...'_ Yugi thought determinedly. _'Pearl, Amy, Garnet, Daddy...I'm almost there...'_ Stephanie thought as well, _'Momma...if you're out there...anywhere...please...keep them safe...'_

* * *

 **Man, that has easily been the _longest_ chapter up to date of any of stories, of that, I'm at least 90% sure. As for why its so long, I can explain, apologies in advance for those with short attention spans, one of the reasons this took so long by the way. I'm not the biggest fan of dividing up the duels unless I need to. I just didn't feel the need to in this case, even if it did drag on a little longer than I honestly would've liked.**

 **By the way, tell me what you guys think my newly created Crystal Myth Fusions. Obviously based off the actual _Steven Universe_ Gem Fusions, as well as figures of both folklore and mythology. Also, I choose these figures based off the locations of the real-life counter-parts.**

 **Though, I admit, Garnets come are popular stones and all variants come from all kinds of places in the world, which all have their own version of the 'Father Time' figure. The Greeks has Kronos, or was it Khronos? There's Sandman, I think he's American, someone correct me if I'm wrong, could be German. So, I just went for the most generic and simple thing I could come up with, plus, Garnet did strike me as a mother-figure to Steven, so...it works, it works.**

 **Every sight I looked up all agree that the largest amounts of opals come from Australia and not only is Kunapipi the easiest to spell out in the English alphabet, she's also the most mysterious as far as I could tell, so it gave me a lot of leeway. Plus, as a Mother Goddess, and Opal being a fusion of Pearl and Amethyst, another _mother_ figure and a obvious sister-figure, I liked to think it fit in nicely overall.**

 **Plus, let me know what you think of the new Crystal Beasts I added in Hessonite Hyena, Lapis Lazuli Swan and Pearl Cottontail, did a lot there to try and make them fit by both _Yu-Gi-Oh_ and _Steven Universe_ standards. Not gonna lie, a little feed back would be a nice confidence boost.**

 **Also, finally picked a name for 'Yami Stephanie', as tempting as something like Cubic Zirconia or just Zirconia was very tempting, believe me, but with the Steven Universe Movie coming up and the new villain's identity still being up in air, if she's a Morganite or a Pink Diamond or a Pink Cubic Zirconia, I don't know, but until I personally see the movie, I'm keeping an open mind to it, so I'm not taking a chance.**

 **Plus, I really like the name Primrose; so pretty, not too long, subtle nod to Rose Quartz/Pink without outright ripping it off, my opinion. Again, let me know what you guys think.**

 **Well, until next time!**


	21. Chapter 21

**In fear of sounding like a broken record: I do not own Steven Universe or any of its original characters nor do I own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of its original characters, I can say, however, that I do own Stephanie, her yami and all OCs I chose to make, including original Crystal Beasts, i.e. Bismuth Beaver, and other original cards. If I _did_ own Steven Universe, trust me, things would've been a lot different and if I own Yu-Gi-Oh there would've been a way for Atem to stay and have all his memories.**

 **Last time, Stephanie had her final duel in the preliminary rounds and now has all ten Star Chips that she needs to get into Pegasus' castle, after she and Primrose seem to have a little talk in an unknown space with Greg. Pegasus has stolen Mokuba's soul and seems to have a plan with Pearl.**

 **Solartiger: Which is your favorite Crystal Myth so far, Opal Kunapipi or Garnet Mother Time? Personally I like them both as original Fusions.**

 **foxchick1: Nice to know you're still a fan.**

 **Lady Twilight Prime: I must admit I was a little concerned when writing Greg as a character, but I do agree his is a pretty amazing parent. Yugi and Seto's rematch in Duelist Kingdom isn't one of my most favorite of their duels, purely for the cheap shot Kaiba took to win, but I suppose in hind sight, had that been me and my sister, can't say I wouldn't have done any different. By the way, which is your favorite fusion? As for Lion, well, he will be making an appearance before Duelist Kingdom's end.**

 **Now, without further ado, let's get on with this chapter!**

* * *

 _(Unknown Space)_

Mokuba winced as he slowly opened his eyes, slowly sitting up as he rubbed at them. Then he looked around in confusion. The last thing he could remember was Seto and Maisie about to set him free, to bring him home, then Pegasus and that strange woman with a stone in her forehead appeared, then that bright light and he remembered blacking out.

It looked like he was still in the dungeon, but it wasn't his cell. There were no bars or doors, just seemingly endless limestone brick stretching on for as far as the eye could see, disappearing into the darkness the draped the other ends of the corridors. There was no sound apart from his own breath, there was no smell, the only light was a candle next to him.

Without hesitation, Mokuba picked up the candle and stretched out his arm towards one of the hallways, hoping to see some sort of clue about which way to go, calling out, "Seto!" His voice echoed down all four halls, "Maisie!" He turned and held the candle down a different hall, "Where are you?" The question repeated in the echo, "Pink!"

Suddenly, a roar echoed through the space, making Mokuba freeze, a shiver of fear rushing up his spine before he slowly turned. To his horror, a creature he couldn't identify came charging down at him from one of the halls, making him scream as he ran down one of the others, "SETO!"

 _(Beach City)_

"Seriously, is there any end to these guys?" Buck asked as he and Jenny finally regrouped with Lars, Kevin and Jamie. "Perhaps is they see just how strong we really are," Jamie suggested carefully, making all but Lars look at him with wide eyes.

"You don't mean..." Jenny tried to say in shock. Jamie nodded, "The All-Power Blast." Hearing this over the com-link, Sour Cream yelped in shock miss-firing a spear, tearing off a limp of the robot he was aiming at instead of going right through the chest like he meant to.

"Sour Cream, get down here," Lars ordered making Sour Cream hesitate for a brief second, before shooting up to fly over his wall of ice before hovering over his group of friends and comrades before slowly descending until he inches off the ground. "Are we really doing this?" Jenny asked in disbelief. "Jay, Lars, you know how drained that attack leaves us," Kevin tried to reason, despite making his mallet disappear and posing his hands as if cupping a basketball .

"But it will take out more than ninety percent of them in one fell swoop," Jamie reasoned as he raised his swords, the edges of the blades glowed a soft lavender, shoulders tense, "It'll give us plenty of time to retreat once Sour Cream drops an entry way before any stragglers can try to catch us and Cream should have enough energy to close the entry again," Sour Cream opened his mouth, most likely to protest, but Jamie continued, "And even if he doesn't, there still plenty of ammo for Fluorite's Peridot and the twins to keep shooting down whoever gets too close."

The Cool Kids and Kevin had to concede his point, the Big Guns would keep them out and there should still be plenty of ammo left to keep it up until Sour Cream was rested enough to close the opening. Jenny lit her hands with flames that danced up to her elbows and fell into a karate stance knife retreating into her Gemstone. Buck did the same with his wipes, shifting his weight back and fists up in a boxing stance. Sour Cream breathed through his nose before concentrating.

The advancing robots all stopped their march to watch as one medium-sized wave rose up over the alien ship, forming a sphere in front of their targets. Freezing a thin layer of ice and frost over the dense water, Sour Cream waited for Buck to slam his fists into the ground before letting it fly. The sphere traveled on a rippling wave of sand towards the army of robots.

But it didn't get far as Jenny and Kevin both launched powerful torrents of flame and air, creating one massive, destructive flamethrower that propelled the sphere faster. the extreme heat turned the sand into sharp shards of glass. Jamie rose his swords up and spun before bringing down in a 'X' slash creating a lavender 'X' shaped blast that pushed the flying shards of glass and sphere even faster.

Finally, throwing his head back, Lars released an glass-breaking level pitched sonic cream sending the combined attack careening at top speeds, and when it reached the first line of robots it created one large explosion. Sour Cream didn't waste time to open a large opening in the section of the ice wall behind them and shouted, "Move!"

 _(Duelist Kingdom)_

"I still can't believe we finally have all ten Star Chips!" Joey said in excitement, mostly to Yugi and Stephanie as the group walked towards Pegasus' castle, which was slowly getting closer and closer. "I can, you won't stop going on about it," Jasper remarked turning her head away to hide her eye-roll.

"I can't say I blame Joey for getting excited," Bismuth remarked with a little smile, "This is our shot at Pegasus."

"Hopefully soon so my Ring can stop pointing at it," Bakura added from the front of the group, holding up his ring, which was once again pointing, what was hopefully the quickest way, to the castle. "I guess it really can't help tracking down other Millennium Items," Stephanie remarked playing with one of her earrings as they walked.

"We'd better get goin'," Joey said, "So we can finally get inside the darn thing!"

Both multi-haired teens nodded, "Right." Making both Tea and Lapis smile at their respective friend.

 _'I knew he could do it; Yugi's always been so brave, though sometimes he doesn't look like he could challenge anyone,'_ Tea thought to herself, _'I guess its all thanks to that spirit within the puzzle; Yami or whoever he is; we all owe him so much.'_ The thought of the shadow duel with the darker, wickeder version of Bakura haunted her memory and in that moment, it flashed itself to the forefront of and it made her shiver, especially watching Stephanie disappear from existence like that, smiling despite the risk she had taken.

 _'Stephanie will never cease to amaze me; despite my hesitance to let her come here at all, I never once doubted that she wouldn't do it, to make it into the finals and give Pegasus what he deserves, that she couldn't save the Crystal Gems or Greg,'_ Lapis thought as well, stopping to watch as Stephanie and Yugi conversed, but her smile faltered as the memory of her duel with Mai flowed to the forefront of her mind, _'Yet, when all of this started, its like she's turning into an entirely new person; just like Yugi when he duels, she goes from such a sweet, kind, compassionate girl that could never hurt an insect to a cold, violent, mysterious woman; its like there's two of them,'_ Her eyes nearly popped out of her skull as something occurred to her, _'Wait, maybe there are two of them! I remember what Joey told me about the shadow duel against the wickeder version of Bakura; there were two Yugis and two Stephanies; a Stephanie and Yugi who were coaching them, and a Stephanie and Yugi who were with them on the field as monsters!'_

She blinked, jerking her head back in surprise as fingers were snapped suddenly in her face, snapping her out of her ravine of thought.

"Planet Earth to Lapis Lazuli!" Stephanie said to regain the former Blue Court Gem's attention, "Everyone's already heading to the castle without us."

Lapis blinked before looking up at the stairs where all but Yugi, herself and Stephanie were already up the first flight of stairs that headed up to Pegasus' castle.

"Hurry up you guys!" Tristan called good-naturedly, "Or we'll go in without you!"

"Shouldn't we be waiting for them thought?" Bakura spoke up, "Since more than half of us technically aren't suppose to be here." Joey and Tristan chuckled sheepishly in response.

"I'd like to seem them try to make me leave," Jasper growled at the thought, especially as her mind gave her images of Pegasus' men or Pegasus himself laying their hands on Lapis or Stephanie or even Peridot, filling her with enough rage to cause the tall-tale teal spots of corruption to form on her shoulders.

A touch to her hand snapped her out of it to see Peridot giving her a look of concern. Jasper took a deep breath and sighed in an attempt to calm herself, willing her spots away.

"I'd like that see 'em try too," Bismuth said trying to keep a more good-natured tone, "Show 'em what happens when ya underestimate us Gems!"

"Grandpa here I come," Yugi whispered determined, before running after his friends. "Dad, Pearl, Garnet, Amethyst, I'm coming," Stephanie said to herself as she stared after him, only to suddenly trip as the top of her ballerina shoe caught a tiny root, making hit the ground with a shriek, grabbing Yugi by the tail of his blazer, making him yelp as she dragged him down with her.

"Ouch," The two mumbled. "Wow, so this is how you plan to rescue your family?" Lapis asked Stephanie in an amused, playful tone.

Stephanie turned to sit up on her bum, looking up at her with big brown eyes as she pointed out, "Well, I save you, remember?"

Inwardly, Lapis cringed at the reminder of Malachite as well as the mirror, outwardly, her smile straightened, _'How can I ever forgot? I put myself right back into a prison right after you set me free of one, yet you still came back to help me.'_

It still haunted her. She could still remember the utter shock of seeing Stephanie in the shared mindscape she shared with Jasper as Malachite. It was like a sudden shining star in a pitch black void. She knew it would attract Jasper, and yet, she couldn't bring herself to immediately push the little hybrid away. It was just so nice to see someone again. And despite knowing Jasper's reasons for her anger, her hate, the reasons for her motives against Rose, against Stephanie. She had no idea how she'd react, back then, had she watched Blue Diamond get shattered before her very eyes, by a member of her own Garden Sisters no less. But she also couldn't forget the burn of the dismissal after returning home finally from over a five-thousand year absence and how treasured one little human made her feel when she had been cracked for over five thousand years. It was really a no brainer what she had to do.

"Lapis?" Stephanie's voice drifted, snapping her out of it, "Lapis, did you hear me?" She looked at her, prompting her to repeat, "I said, do you remember?"

"Yeah, I remember," Lapis assured. "Hey!" Peridot called down, "Do we have to come back down and carry you three or what?"

"Keep your physical form on, Peri!" Lapis replied playfully in kind, "We're coming!" Without warning, she summoned her wings and shot into the air.

"Hey!" Yugi and Stephanie yelped at the sudden downward gust of wind in their faces, Stephanie forced to pin her skirt down at the rush of air. "No fair Lapis!" Stephanie shouted after her as Lapis giggled. "All's fair in love and war, isn't that what you told me, Steph?" Lapis laughed as she flew up to land next to Joey, who smiled at her, which she returned as Yugi and Stephanie hurried to catch up.

Physical extrusion was not an uncommon thing for a Gem, even for a Peridot stationed to a Garden like their Peridot herself had been. Stephanie herself was in amazing physical shape due to a steady combination of her dance lessons, self-defense lessons as well as her training with the Crystal Gems. So needless to say, the winding stairs that led up to the entry of the castle was nothing for them. Sadly, for all their good grades in gym class, the same cannot be said for the humans.

"You'd think someone as rich as Pegasus would install an elevator..." Joey panted as they neared the top. "Or an escalator for that matter," Tristan added.

"Hey guys, I think we got a problem," Tea commented pointing to the figure blocking their way in. "Seto?" Peridot said in surprise, moving to the front of the group with startled eyes.

Seto Kaiba stood tall and intimidating, glaring down at them with his arms crossed. Maisie hovered diligently at his side in her helicopter mode. For a brief moment, Peridot could've sworn something softened his those ice-blue eyes, but just as quick as it was there, it was gone.

"I can't let you pass through," Kaiba stated simply. "What do ya want now, ya jerk?" Joey demanded with a deep frown.

"A duel with Yugi Muto," Maisie answered for her master, much to their surprise, "He cannot duel Pegasus, he is Master Seto's to take down."

"I've won my ten Star Chips Kaiba, I've earned my place in the castle," Yugi stated rather boldly, "I've already beaten you once before, I have nothing to prove doing it again."

"Are you no longer confident in that so-called 'Heart of the Cards' nonsense?" Kaiba taunted tilting his head like a curious, but calculative snake examining and determinate the best way to prob his prey, "Or are you too afraid to face me without Exodia?"

"Pipsqueak isn't afraid of a pompous upper-crust like you!" Jasper snapped at him, but was ignored and ignored the yelp of protest from the aforementioned 'pipsqueak' in question.

"That's it Yugi," Kaiba smirked seeing how Yugi's face pinched at the accusation all the same, "You can't defeat me without Exodia; you're a coward."

Stephanie frowned angrily at this, feeling a distinctive buzz in her cheeks as she stepped up next to Peridot in front of the group, stating boldly, "If you want someone to duel Kaiba, then duel me," He raised a brow at her, "If Peridot can beat after she literally just learned about the game the day before-"

She was cut off by an indigent squawk of disbelief as Seto jerked in shock, eyes wide, which was followed by Maisie nearly falling to the ground as she burst out into a fit of giggles, "WHAT?"

"I was beaten by a literal rookie?" Kaiba asked in disbelieved-shock as the group of humans, plus Jasper, tried hard not to laugh at his reaction. "Well, to put it simple," Peridot admitted sheepishly, cheeks turning a leafy green, "Yes...?"

"BWA-HA-AHA-HA-HAH!" Maisie laughed, "You actually-! And she actually-! I can't believe-! BWA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HAH!"

"I-you-but-urk!" Kaiba stammered before shaking his head, "You caught me completely off guard and you got lucky with those new monsters I've never seen before, so I wasn't taking you as seriously as I should've," He gave her a pointed look, "Which won't be happening again in the near future, by the way."

Peridot couldn't help smirking, "I hope not."

"Trust me," Kaiba smirked back, "Next time we duel, I will win." Peridot shrugged in response, making everyone else cough slightly in awkwardness, making the two flush, remembering themselves.

"And as for you, Miss Diamonde, I'm guessing, or should I call you Miss Quartz-Universe?" Kaiba continued to Stephanie, who kept her mouth shut, "My score to settle doesn't concern you, and besides, if you're anything like the beach bum I met during the Internationals, then I can say I'm not impressed."

"Beach..." Stephanie said in confusion before the dots connected in her head and her cheek-marks glowed a dark pink as her gem flashed a darker hue as well, realizing who he was talking about, "That's my big brother, you-!" She was cut off by an arm reaching out in front of her, making her look at Yugi, who had stepped up in front of her and Peridot, hair shadowing his eyes.

"You want to duel, Kaiba?" Yugi asked in a rather controlled, but slightly quite tone of voice with a bite to it, it made even Kaiba look surprised, "Fine."

The Millennium Puzzle glowed as he transformed into Yami, who lifted his head to glare heatedly at the tall brunette, "We'll duel."

"I've changed Yugi, you can see that I have," Kaiba stated, "I deserve a re-match, let me duel you the right way."

"Very well then," Yami conceded knowing the CEO deserved the benefit of a doubt at the very least, "Name your location."

"The arena has already been prepped," Maisie said as she and Kaiba led the way to a section of wall walk that had plenty of room for everyone.

"Alright Kaiba," Yami said as Kaiba tossed him him one of the discs, which he caught, "It's time to duel."

"You already know the rules of how my discs work," Kaiba said after they shuffled their decks and slid them into the appropriate slot, and the counters rose their life points automatically, "So I won't bother explaining the rules."

 **Yami: 2000**

 **Kaiba: 2000**

"You can do it Yami," Tristan said in encouragement, "If a complete newbie like Peridot can beat him, then you got this!"

"Excuse me?" Peridot asked arching a brow at him as Kaiba twitched at the reminder, "Now what is _that_ suppose to mean?"

"What?" Tristan asked confused as Bismuth chuckled in amusement. "Tristan have you ever heard of the term; open mouth, insert foot?" Stephanie asked Tristan just got cross-eyed in response.

Meanwhile, on another part of the roof, Bandit Keith walked out with a smug grin on his face.

"It'll take some time for the other finalists to catch up by playing by the rules, so I may as well kill time by watching this duel the guy at the door told me about," Bandit Keith mused aloud to himself before catching sight of who was dueling and who was also spectating, he quickly backed up a bit to remain out of sight, but gasped in shocked disbelief, "What the-? Its those punks I left trapped in the cave after the graveyard duel! But how did they get out?" His eyes fell on Stephanie, or, more accurately, her bare shoulders and modest cleavage, and he smirked, "At least Miss Pretty and Pink is here, maybe I might get the chance at some fun again," He chuckled to himself at the thought, licking his lips as he remembered how soft and surprisingly cool her skin felt under his fingers, before noticing who was dueling, "And a Kaiba, Yugi rematch, huh? I need a better view of this." He then ran off to find a better vantage point to watch the duel.

Stephanie shivered and sneezed, prompting everyone to say at once, "Bless you."

"The official re-match between Seto Kaiba and Yugi Muto shall now commence," Maisie said formally from where she hovered somewhere in the middle of the space between the two duelists that served as their field, "Since Mr. Muto was present during the duel between Mr. Kaiba and Miss Peridot," No one missed how Kaiba's brow twitched at the reminder of the duel, "There is no need to explain how the discs work."

"Get ready Yugi, after this duel only one of us will be facing Pegasus," Kaiba said seriously, "The other will leave a broken man."

"Wrong," Yami said confidently, "I've come too far Kaiba, been through too much to stop here; I will defeat you, once and for all." Stephanie shivered at the intensity in his blood red eyes and in his voice, not quite sure if she liked it in this situation. A quick glance to where Primrose was watching while sitting on one of parapets confirmed by the look on her face that she didn't entirely like it either.

"Then let's duel," Kaiba said as they drew their first five cards and then drew his sixth, "I'll go first and I play Ryu Kishin Powered in attack mode!"

Just like with Peridot, Kaiba threw his disc and as it spun in place, an upward torrent of light rose up before revealing his monster, which was a hybrid between a dragon and a demon having a large chest, thin abdomen and low set legs covered in red plated armor with a pair of horns on its head matching its sharp talons and claws, and the spines on its back and legs.

 **Ryu Kishin Powered. Attribute: DARK. Tribe: FIEND/NORMAL. Lv: 4. ATK/DEF: 1600/1200**

Then, four large holograms of cards with their pictured side facing Kaiba, hiding themselves from Yami, appeared before Kaiba, much to their startled-awe.

"The cards," Joey said in shock, "They're holograms, just like the monsters!"

"Thank you Captain Obvious," Jasper commented eyes glued to the holograms. "Huh, that's new," Peridot remarked wondering why the cards didn't appear during her duel with Kaiba and why Kaiba would suddenly add such a feature.

"Be on your guard Kaiba," Yami said drawing and placing a card to play, "I summon Curse of Dragon!" His yellow scorpion-like dragon appeared after Yami threw his disc, giving an all-mighty screech as it spread its wings off stretch.

"Well done," Kaiba praised mockingly, "A formidable move Yugi, and a move I'd expect from a duelist of your caliber." Jasper, Lapis and Bismuth all narrowed their eyes at the deliberate goading, something they were all too familiar with during the war from both sides.

As the three Gems expected, Yami snapped in response to the obvious sarcasm, "Don't patronize me!" Stephanie instinctively flinched at the underling venom, having learned to pick up on from listening in on all of the arguments between Pearl and Amethyst when they thought she wasn't around.

"Only one of us is facing Pegasus Yugi,, and that _will_ be me," Kaiba replied in kind, "So attack, or do you not have faith in your monster?"

"I have faith in my monster Kaiba, he is mightier than yours," Yami countered, "Curse of Dragon destroy his Ryu Kishin with Dragon Flame!" His dragon rose up at the command and incinerated Ryu Kishin Powered with its fire breath.

Kaiba barely flinched at this, easily catching the disc when it sailed back at him and his life points dropped.

 **Kaiba LPs: 1600**

"A good move, but oh so predictable, did you think I wouldn't expect that attack?" Kaiba said rhetorically, "Once again you've played right into my hands Yugi," He placed a card and sent the disc spinning again, "This card you've seen before, I play Swordstalker." The familiar sword-wielding demon appeared with a wide grin on its face as it stared down Curse of Dragon, who hovered unfazed by the creature.

 _'This makes no sense,'_ Stephanie and Peridot both thought in confusion, even Jasper and Bismuth had suspicious looks on their faces, _'Why would a well-experienced duelist like Kaiba make such a rookie mistake?'_

"Not him again," Peridot said shivering at the sight of the monster, even in broad daylight it gave her the creeps. "And we all know what that card can do," Joey added in concern.

"Its nice to know you're not as dumb as you look," Kaiba remarked glancing at Joey, who glared in response with a warning growl as Lapis gave the brunette duelist a warning glare, not that he seemed to really notice, "The Swordstalker gathers the lifeforce of a fallen ally and raises his own attack points." Sure enough, the soul of Ryu Kishin Powered circled around Swordstalker before being absorbed into the monster's sword, increasing its attack power.

 **Swordstalker. ATK/DEF: 2400/1600**

 _'So that's why he let Ryu Kishin be destroyed,'_ Yami and Yugi thought with surprised, yet understanding eyes, _'So he can create a more powerful monster.'_ Stephanie and Peridot also had similar expressions, mentally applauding Kaiba's rather simple plan.

"Swordstalker attack his Curse of Dragon!" Kaiba ordered and his monster shot forward, swinging its sword to strike down Curse of Dragon, only to meet thin air, much to everyone's shock, Curse of Dragon vanished, "What?"

"It vanished!" Everyone sans Yami and Maisie exclaimed in shock.

"That's because I played the Monster Replacement magic card that I had in my hand," Yami explained as one of his holograms flipped around to reveal the card in question, "This card allows me to switch the monster on the field with the monster in my hand with the highest attack points, and I think you already know which one that is," He replaced the Curse of Dragon with another card before launching his disc again as familiar purple spellcaster appeared, "Dark Magician destroy his Swordstalker with Dark Magic Attack!"

His spellcaster held out his hand using dark magic to make Swordstalker burst into pieces. Kaiba frowned as he caught his disc and his life points dropped once more.

 **Seto LPs: 1500**

"Alright!" Joey grinned, "Yami's already got 'im on the ropes!"

 _'Why do I still feel something off about this?'_ Peridot wondered to herself as she took in the lack of concern on Kaiba's face, _'It almost feels like Seto let Yami win those battles, I don't know why, but I just feel like he's up to something,'_ She glanced at the tri-haired duelist, _'I just hope Yami can sense something's off too.'_

"Now I replay my Curse of Dragon!" Yami continued as his dragon reappeared next to the Dark Magician as Kaiba recalled his disc.

"Now its my move," Kaiba said drawing a new card, placing one on his disc, "And I will fight your magic with a magician of my own," The Gems all raised a brow at those words, "I summon La Jinn the Mystical Genie of the Lamp!" Once more he launched his disc and his monster.

His monster resembled yet another human male, only, to the Gems' shock, his skin was a deep shade of green and his lower half, in the place of legs, was a green wisp of smoke that was tinged with hints of a yellowish color. He was rather muscled, but was bald with a long mustache that fell past his chin with a little blue hat that looked rather dome-shaped. Stephanie recognized both La Jinn's appearance and the style of the hat was a tribute to the genies' origions in the middle east, particularly Arabian, but the technical term for the hat's style, while not a fez, escaped her. To complete his design was a thick, plain gold necklace and matching bands on his upper-arms and wrists.

 **La Jinn the Mystical Genie of the Lamp. Attribute: DARK. Tribe: FIEND/NORMAL. Lv: 4. ATK/DEF: 1800/1000**

"My wish is his command," Kaiba said with a small smirk, clearly not at all concerned about the fact his genie was still two hundred points too weak against Yami's weaker monster.

Yami, however, didn't seem to realize it as he ordered, "Dark Magician attack La Jinn!"

But Stephanie seemed to realize something was off and shouted in alarm, "Yami, wait!" But was too late.

"Your attack has activated my trap card, the Ancient Lamp!" Kaiba exclaimed as one of his own holograms flipped around and a large, Arabian-styled oil lamp on four thin, almost crab-like like legs. Whether it was made of gold and or bronze they couldn't really tell.

"First, it sucks in my genie into itself, protecting him from your attack," Kaiba explained as La Jinn disappeared into the lamp as the Dark Magician launched a ball of dark magic, which collided with the lamp, "And then it redirects your magical attack against one of your monsters," Sure enough, the orb rebounded and headed straight at Curse of Dragon, who screeched in surprise before being destroyed, making Yami grimace at his mistake and his life points dropped to evenly match Kaiba's own, "And now the score is all tied up!"

 **Yami LPs: 1500**

Stephanie clenched her fists as she watched the duel, _'Wow, I've never seen someone turn a duel around so quickly and effectively like that before, even Sour Cream and Kevin never pulled something like that off,'_ She glanced at Kaiba with a thoughtful look in her eyes, _'What is does Kaiba hope to gain out of this? He didn't challenge Yugi before, why now? Did Pegasus put him up to this in excahnge for Mokuba?'_

"My Curse of Dragon maybe gone but I still have my Dark Magician," Yami said confidently, taking the loss in stride, "As you said yourself Kaiba, the score is all tied up; we're evenly matched." Kaiba only smirked in response, which made the Gems and Stephanie tense, especially Peridot, who recognized it from her own duel with the brunette and knew it was nothing good.

 _'Fool. He doesn't suspect a thing, my moves, clever as they've been, were only to distract him from my real plan,'_ Kaiba thought, _'To get all three of my Blue Eyes White Dragons in my hand and then combine to form a monster of incredible power the likes of which no one has ever seen before; the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon.'_

Jasper narrowed her eyes at the small smirk she caught on Kaiba's lips, she had spent enough time around the more abusive of Agates, mischievous of Amethysts and vindictive of Aquamarines to tell when someone was scheming. And if the duel from before with Peridot was any indication, she knew that it was nothing good going on in the head of Seto Kaiba would end well for his unfortunate opponents.

 _(Unknown Space)_

Mokuba whimpered as he ran from the strange, twisted creature giving chase after him. No matter how many corners he turned and how many times he heard it slam into the wall, it always managed to recover quick enough to keep him in its sight. No matter which way he ran or how fast he tried to move, it never failed to keep pace.

It honestly looked quite literally like something out of a nightmare or right out of grave from a horror movie. It moved much like a zombie, but moved unnaturally fast for such a creature famously know for not being very fast on its feet. But for all intents and purposes, that's exactly what it looked like.

It stood on two feet like a person, its body structure being built similarly as well, but its face, particularly its jaw and the long swishing tail suggested otherwise. Its jaw was more pronounced then anything Mokuba could recall then any adult he could remember, its shoulder were rather broad. However, the inhuman features weren't the most horrifying part. Its entire body looked as if its skin had melted but stubbornly remained stuck to its muscle and bone, behaving much like a disgusting, sticky goo of an equally disgusting, oily black color with sickinging tinges of green, dripping a trail behind the creature as it gave chase, but never seeming to run out of itself, as if the creature were producing it.

A large gaping hole where its heart should have been was located on its chest, revealing the mangled rotted muscle and tendrils within that had turned a dark shade of purplish, the severed muscle-loins hanging limp out of the gaping wound like cloth out of a hole as more of the disgusting goop oozed out of it, tinged with a more yellowish color. Sharp, ironically pearly white teeth and claws gleamed dangerously from its mouth and hands sent chills of fear down his spine, despite the odd fact that it had human-like hands and missing one finger. Its tail was just as drenched in the goo as the rest of it, its slender tip like the tail-end of an ink brush or whip as it lashed around.

However, the most disturbing part, which Mokuba was a hundred percent sure would haunt him for the rest of his life, was the rest of its face. Its nose was broken and hooked, what seemed to be bone or cartilage sticking out of the bridge. It was bald, a few strands of dark hair stuck to the goo that stained its head. Two large, angular gaping sockets where eyes should have been with little glowing yellow balls of lights in the center that seemed to stare right into his very soul.

Mokuba gasped as he felt his foot catch on an off, slightly raised brick, sending him to the floor with a scream of, "ANIKI*!" He grunted as he hit the floor, but paled as he turned to see the creature picked up its speed towards him, seeing him down, prompting another scream as he raised his arms to try defend himself, "PINK-CHAN**!"

But suddenly, a low, husky voice quite literally purred, _**"Poisonous Butterfly Swarm."**_ Imagine his shock when a swarm of wispy green butterflies suddenly flew overhead straight at the creature, who, startled, skidded to a halt as one struck it in the face, bursting into a cloud of thick green smoke.

It instantly shrieked at this, hands coming up to its face, either fanning the offending smoke away or clawing at its melting face as the smoke, on contact with its decaying flesh and muscle, caused, much to Mokuba's horror, to burn what it touched into a sludge of a distinctive pinkish color, the edges of the newly formed wounds seemed to glow hot with a reddish-orange color as if it were burned. It quickly backed up as more of the butterflies advanced.

Mokuba turned to where he had heard the voice come from, only for his savoir to be blocked by his view by an open umbrella, which was being pointed at the creature as if it were a sword. To Mokuba's surprise, the strange purple crystal on the umbrella's ferrule was glowing ominously with a dark green light, which then changed into a light pinkish-purple as it was spun in its owner's hand, the light seemed to travel down the end of the umbrella to the silk of the canopy, lighting up its night and space-themed cloth and bringing out its pattern. Then, it was moved aside to reveal Mokuba's savoir as he again purred, _**"Crystal Dagger Barrage."**_ Imagine Mokuba's shock as matching pinkish-purple daggers were created out of thin air by the umbrella, which went sailing over his head and judging by the inhuman cry, it once again hit the creature, which continued to scream as the butterflies from before started attacking it.

His savoir was an incredibly tall, and thankfully very human, man, if Mokuba had to guess, he had to be around nine-ft tall, taller than Seto that was for sure, and he was quite muscular for someone using a rather dainty-looking umbrella, special abilities or no, to fight with. His impossibly long and wild dark brown hair was a sharp contrast to his rather formal attire and stoic expression, and complimented his deep tan. If Mokuba still had to guess, he would assume, especially with his equally dark brown eyes, that he was Latino, especially with the accent he used when he spoke those two phrases.

He was even dressed in a distinctly Spanish outfit that Mokuba recognized as a Mariachi suit from a news broadcast from Mexico reporting about the Day of the Dead. It lacked the robes that the musicians often wore over the suits when playing, but the distinctive cold, icy blue rose and thorn embroidery on the jacket and pant legs made it hard to mistake it for any other style. The main ink black color of the suit made the pattern all the more hard to miss and contributed to the pattern on the umbrella, completing the dark and mysterious feel of the man's appearance.

And yet, Mokuba couldn't bring himself to be afraid, even with the strange, glowing, bright orange musical notes on his cheeks. He felt strangely safe in the man's presence. There was just something about it that reminded him of Seto. Powerful, but protective and home.

"Honestly, after all these years _this_ is where you hide?" The man questioned the creature breaking Mokuba out of his ravine as he kept the umbrella pointed at it, but now had the canopy closed, "And chasing a helpless child of all things? That's a new low, even for you," He then spat out his next word as if it were the most vilest poison or curse, " _Lizard_." It made Mokuba flinch instinctively.

The creature was now covered in burns from the 'butterflies' with the now void of color crystals sticking out all over, the pinkish liquid gushing from its new wounds as it made a sound that seemed to be the mix of the rattle of bones, the wheeze of a cough and the hiss of a snake. It sent a chill of Mokuba's spine irregardless though. The man, however, remained unfazed, his grip and stance with his umbrella unwavering.

 ** _"...Gurk!...Butterfly..."_** Mokuba jumped when the creature suddenly spoke for the first time since it started chasing him for what felt like days, reaching a full five claws out towards them, _**"...hisssstuuurrk!...Star...!"**_

"I see you haven't let of your grudge with my family, huh?" The man questioned mostly to himself with a tiny shrug of his shoulders as the crystal of his umbrella started to glow again, "Not exactly healthy, no matter what world your in, ya know that right?" It gave an angry, yet pained howl that made Mokuba whimper and flinch, and again, the man just shrugged, "Yeah, figured you wouldn't care; didn't expect to find you _here_ though."

He brought the arm holding the umbrella back face easing into a small smirk as he added, "Mama, Papa and Abuela Moon sends there regards by the way," He then purred once more, _**"Celeste Fire Inferno."**_ He then shot the umbrella forward as the glow turned a brilliant golden, prompting Mokuba to shield his eyes as a torrent of heavenly golden flames spewed forth.

The younger Kaiba cringed as the creatures shrieks and screams filled the air for what felt like hours as the ungodly smell of burning flesh and sound of popping assaulted his nose and ears. Even when the light and screams ended, the smell proved to much for the young Kaiba to pull his hands away, until he heard the man stage-whisper once more, _**"Freshening Air Breeze."**_ He felt the soft caress of a breeze before the horrid smell was immediately replaced by a sweet one that reminded Mokuba of the fresh bread he remembered making with Seto back in the orphanage with the nice kitchen lady, it this was tangier, spicier somehow.

When he finally lowered his arms, the man was still staring down the spot the creature had once been, now marked with a large scorch mark from the fire, his umbrella still closed, now resting innocently on one shoulder and his free hand was now fisted on his hip in a rather feminine pose as he remarked in a rather dry, but airy and sarcastic voice, and it took Mokuba a moment to realize he was talking in Spanish, backing up his guess to him being Latino, _"Adios dulce lagarto, saluda a tu maestro belicista de mi parte, Solaria y Skywynne.***"_

The man then sighed, working out the kinks in his neck, making Mokuba flinch at the sound before grinning as he turned to the much younger male, posture easing into a more relaxed posture as he started talking in much, much, _much_ more friendlier voice that lacked the Spanish accent, "Well, as my dear sweet _Tia****_ Clipsa always said," He then adopted a posh European accent, "Good riddance to bad rubbish." He then snorted in amusement, dropping the accent immediately.

"Now, then," The man said as he walked over to Mokuba, kneeling down to appear less threatening when the poor boy flinched, "Are you alright, little one?"

Mokuba nodded his head almost mechnically, eyes darting briefly around him to spot the scorched brick. "Good, I was afraid I was too late," The man sighed again, more in relief popping open his umbrella and spun it lazily from where it rested on his shoulder, a brief frown crinkled the corners of his mouth as he shook his head, "Honestly what Max was even thinking to let that blasted lizard in I'll never know."

He then held out his hand, silently offering to help the boy back onto his feet and for a moment Mokuba hesitated, eyeing the white silken-clad hand before looking up into warm brown eyes. Eyes he found oddly familiar, but was too scattered with his thoughts and emotions to figure out where he had seen them before. After a moment, he accepted the hand, which dwarfed his own almost comically.

With a very gentle pull and lift, Mokuba was back on his feet and he immediately asked the first thing that popped into his head, "What was that thing?"

"An old enemy of my mother's family that just doesn't know how to stay dead, I'm afraid," The man replied looking and sounding rather nonchalant and accepting of the fact, catching Mokuba off guard, "A bit of a long story and I'd like to think this isn't the best place for it, unless you'd like to risk running into something like that again." Mokuba paled at the idea and shook his head quickly, explanations could wait in that case.

The man raised his umbrella a little and smiled as the crystal casted a pale light, lighting up the halls much better then Mokuba's poorly lit candle. He then offered his hand to Mokuba once more, who was less hesitant to take it this time and began leading the way down the halls.

"I'm Mokuba by the way," Mokuba decided to break the rather one-sided tension he was feeling with a proper introduction, "Thanks for saving me."

"No prob little one," The man gave a fond, almost fatherly smile as they seemed to reach a dead end, "My name is Gregorio, but you can call me Shadow." He then brought down his umbrella like he had against the creature as the glow intensified. Mokuba watched in awe as what can only be described as a sideways vortex or portal or rift, whichever, opened before them in a stunning swirl of blues, pinks and purples with a golden center.

Once again Shadow gently took Mokuba's hand and led him into the portal, making Mokuba gasp and instinctively close his eyes. But then felt a warmth on his face and liquid pooling at his feet. When he opened his eyes, he gasped again at what he saw. Shadow smiled as he motioned his free hand out to the new location, "Mokuba, welcome, to the Realm of Magic."

 _(Beach City)_

Within the Sun Incinerator, Sour Cream was panting heavily and gasping for what felt like his twentieth(ish) wind as Buck carried him onto the ship and into the ship bridal style after he closed the opening in his ice wall and he collapsed. Jamie went to the window of the control room to observe the damage their combined attack had caused and whistled, breathing even and soft, "Now _that's_ destruction in it finest."

"That...was...the longest...I've...ever...b-battled..." Jenny panted as she collapsed next to Lars' seat, hand on her chest under her gemstone, sweating bullets; hair matted to her head, breath coming out in hot puffs of steam and her shirt stuck to her body, making her abs apparent despite the thick material.

"Y-Y-Yeah..." Kevin agreed also panting hard, but stayed on his feet, resting his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. "You...you o-o-okay...Cream?" Buck asked as he sat the blonde down in one of the Off-Colors' chairs. "Y-Y-Yeah...I...I...I...th-think...s-s-so..." Sour Cream manged to get out between his gasps and coughs for breath, trying to ease the pain of using up so much energy at once and still trying to stretch beyond the limit all at the same time.

No matter how many times they practiced this, its still left all of them a wreck. Well, four out of the six of them a total wreck, anyways.

"I'm going to go check on the twins and Peridot," Lars spoke up suddenly, not looking the least bit tired or ragged like the others were, wasn't even panting for breath, he seemed perfectly fine. Kevin still had a hard time determining if that was simply because of his recent 'zombie' status requiring less energy to pull his part of the move off or the amount of time he had before returning to Earth was enough for him to practice he abilities to the point he didn't require much energy for them anymore.

He didn't give anyone a chance to say anything. Lars simply turned on his heel and walked off, pausing to press his hand to a scanner by the large door before it slid open allowing him through before closing a few seconds later. Even now, after all those weeks of perfecting their group attack, the Cool Kids and Kevin will never understand how Lars can stand up without so much as a shake in his legs or walk without so much as limp, like nothing had happened.

"And I should go get some water from Rhodonite," Jamie added quickly recovering from the energy spent on the attack, righting himself as he spun as his heel and walked off as well, using the same scanner to get through, "Be right back."

"Wait, Jamie!" Kevin called immediately regretting it as he started coughing, but when Jamie turned, he added, "What about your cut?"

"C-Cut?" Jenny asked in surprise, "W-What...c-c-cut...?"

Jamie gave Kevin a sweet smile, oblivious to the dark blush that quickly covered the topaz-hybrid's face, "Thank you for the concern, Kevin, but I heal quite quickly." To prove his point, he turned his head to show the wound and, sure enough, it was already scabbing. With that, he left.

"M-Man..." Buck panted trying to ignore the stinging in his legs as they protested to him walking or even standing, "I...I didn't...didn't really th-think...we...we'd act...actually had...yeash!" He gasped for breath almost violently, holding himself up with a hand on one of the consoles, which had thankfully, already been shut off.

"Hon...honestly I'm not...brrr!...that surprised..." Sour Cream panted as well, shivering as his skin started to tinge a very faint pale blue from how his body temperature had dropped from his part of the attack, "Brr...!...what with...all...that con...constant waves of...of robots..."

"Any...any idea hooow..." Jenny began wheezing as she caught her breath, "How we're going to...ex-explain...all those exploded and crushed and impaled robots out there?"

"Yeah, the explode and crush I can kinda see them buying as the gattling guns," Kevin said once he finally got his thirtieth wind back, "But not the ones you impaled with your spears Cream, did you really have to impale so many?" Sour Cream just shrugged sheepishly, sighing in relief as Jenny came over and hugged him from behind, her extra body heat complementing his extreme lack of it, helping each other balance one another out quite nicely.

"Well, they're just going to have to accept whatever explanation we come up with," Jenny pointed out resting her chin on Sour Cream's head, ignoring the sizzling noise the skin to skin contact of their opposite body temps made along with little jets of steam, "Its not like we can tell them the truth."

"Obviously, remember the rules of the contract?" Buck replied, "We can't breath a word about any of this to _anyone_ until Lars says otherwise."

"Remind me again...brr!...why we signed that darn...brr!...that damn thing-AACHOO!" Sour Cream cut off his own question with a violent sneeze, making Jenny yelp when the motion knocked her feet out from under her, nearly sending her to the floor, he sniffled before finishing, "And who's damn idea was all this in the first place again?"

"YOURS!" The other three replied in rather harsh shouts as Kevin and Buck started stretching out the soreness and cramps from their limbs, the former mayor's son leaning on a console with one hand and using the other to keep his leg up as he leaned forward and the Moretii***** heir was attempting a split but was nowhere near as flawless or perfect as the ones Jamie could pull off, Jamie just kept hugging him as they used each other either to warm up or cool off.

"And to be able to help Steph on the battle field one day, remember?" Jenny added making him sigh. "Touche," The blue and blonde hybrid admitted, all of them oblivious to the the footsteps approaching how they still hadn't changed back to their previous attire, "But still...brr!" He looked like he was going to sneeze again, but held it in, "I would to know how we're going to explain all this when the time comes for it; it'd be nice to not have to lie to my mom and Onion-"

"Lie to them about wha-WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU GUYS WEARING?" A familiar voice had started to ask making them all freeze, but they all jumped and ended up on the floor in a heap when it turned into a yell.

They turned to meet the stunned eyes of Connie Maheswaran, who, surprisingly, didn't have her sword with her as she started at them or more accurately, their gemstones, which were on full display for her to very clearly see, the unnatural lighting of the room making them gleam and shine in the most eye-catching of way. Sour Cream quickly turned onto his side to hide his sphere-cut blue stone, while Kevin, Buck and Jenny and tried in vain to hide theirs.

"You're..." Connie murmured in shock as she took a step back. "Connie, we-" Jenny tried to say, but cut herself off by biting one of her jacket sleeves, looking quite unsure and frightened by the situation. "You're...you're hybrids," Connie said looking like she was about to bolt.

Then, much to the group's shocked-alarm, Jamie suddenly slid up behind the girl, katanna drawn, and a face devoid of any emotion on his face as he adjusted his grip of the leather-bound handle. "Jamie, no!" Kevin yelled in horror, fearing what the other brunette may do.

Connie barely had time to turn frightened eyes towards the hybrid behind her before being met with the butt-end of the handle into the back of her head, hard enough to knock her clean out cold. Jenny shrieked through her sleeve as they watched the little girl crumple to the floor.

Jamie then readjusted his katanna, pointing the blade to the girl's back as he turned unamused, almost predatory eyes to his fellow hybrids. Kevin's eyes widen when he saw they were no longer the bright, warm and lively brown he had come to adore, but a cold, lifeless lavender with slate gray pupils in the shape of four-pointed stars.

The voice that came out of Jamie's mouth was his, yet it was different at the same time, "Would someone care to explain this?"

* * *

 **And I think I'll end it here, somewhat of a more dramatic cliffhanger then leaving it at the duel I like to think, plus it rounds out everyone with a more pressing involvement. What do you guys think?**

 **I find it odd how there weren't a lot of inside looks to how things are in the Shadow Realm when things aren't messing with one's mind and memories, correct me if I'm wrong, so I like to imagine how it might have been like for Mokuba and Solomon(is that Grandpa's actual first name, someone correct me if I'm wrong), while trapped by Pegasus. I imagine it not being too different from the dungeon and tunnels under his castle, just a lot darker and creepier. Well, at least they won't be alone.**

 **Also, let me know what you guys think of some more expansion on the Cool Kids, Kevin, Jamie and Lars, particularly for the former five got their gemstones. No, they don't have secret parents who were Gems who somehow avoided corruption. I was thinking of using them in a side arc I was thinking of putting together to put more spotlight on Primrose, Stephanie's Yami, as I set the girls off for their own thing in Yu-Gi-Oh independent of the original anime for their own keys to Primrose's memory. Again, I'm curious to your guys thoughts.**

 **Spoilers about the Beach Teens' gemstones though, its gonna knock ya guys right out of your chairs...or beds...or wherever you guys are sitting when you eventually read that reveal. That's all I'm gonna say on it and I'm shutting up now.**

 **Anyways, onto those little * notes:**

 **Aniki*: Again, correct me if I'm wrong, but I read somewhere while researching Japanese culture that Aniki was basically the term for 'Big Brother', I'm about eighty-five percent sure I heard Sasuke from Naruto use it a few times in the Sub when addressing Itachi in flashbacks. But I could be wrong. Since Mokuba was purely Japanese as far I can tell and not half-Japanese like Joey seemed to be, it made sense to me that this would be something Mokie would call him.**

 **Pink-Chan**: Chan is one of terms used when addressing a female companion or a companion in general in a teasing light, if I'm not mistaken. So, like how Yami called Stephanie Hime in the beginning, it seemed likely to me that Mokuba would call her Chan, seeing how he's much more friendly and open to people compared to his brother.**

 **Adios dulce lagarto, saluda a tu maestro belicista de mi parte, Solaria y Skywynne.***: Its Spanish for 'Goodbye candy lizard, say hello to your warmonger master for me, Solaria and Skywynne', its basically my way of letting you guys now this is actually crossed over a bit with another favorite show of mine. Three guesses to what it is. Since not a lot of Greg's past is known, I decided to make him half Latino. I thought it'd be interesting.**

 **Tia****: Is Spanish for 'aunt' or 'auntie'. Again, I thought it would be interesting to make Greg half Latino.**

 **Moretti*****: Is an Italian surname, I honestly couldn't tell if Kevin was Spanish or Italian, so I went with Italian.**

 **Now back to that poll: Current ones:**

 **Should Yugi be crowned King or Stephanie be crowned Queen?**

 **King: 7, Queen: 2**

 **Should Stephanie get an _Egyptian_ God Card?**

 **Yes: 4, No: 6**

 _ **If**_ __ **yes, which one should she get?**

 **Obelisk: 2, Ra: 1, Slifer: 0**

 **By the way, I got news, I'm starting a new poll, which will be displayed at the top of my profile right after or before I post this chapter. Remember how I stressed 'Egyptian' in that second poll? Well, I'm thinking of giving Stephanie three entirely different God Cards based on a different culture's pantheon. I'll let you guys pick out your guys' favs in the poll itself.**

 **So let me know what you guys think, k?**

 **Remember to fav, follow and review!**


	22. Chapter 22

**In fear of sounding like a broken record: I do not own Steven Universe or any of its original characters nor do I own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of its original characters, I can say, however, that I do own Stephanie, her yami and all OCs I chose to make, including original Crystal Beasts, i.e. Bismuth Beaver, and other original cards. If I _did_ own Steven Universe, trust me, things would've been a lot different and if I own Yu-Gi-Oh there would've been a way for Atem to stay and have all his memories.**

 **foxchick1: Nice to know I'm keeping up the pace of standard expectation and I just couldn't resist adding another crossover, it was just too tempting when I first started this. As for who Gregorio or 'Shadow' as he allowed Mokuba to call him, is, well, let's hope I don't disappoint, shall we? Also, I have a request of sorts; looking back at the creature that was chasing Mokuba, who do you think it once was? Also; what is your favorite couple duet song? I'm planning something special for a future chapter in the Battle City arc and I'm looking for suggestions.**

 **Solartiger: I hope you you continue to enjoy this piece of work I put much love and work into and I'm extending a hand to everyone in the comments for suggestions of couple duets for a chapter in Battle City. Disney, Non-Disney, Disney Channel, Discovery TV, etc. You get the idea, name me your favorite song featuring a romantic couple and I just might put in here somewhere.**

 **Lady Twilight Prime: Where do I even start? Oh, I know, please don't ever change! I mean it, just don't. Your reviews never fail to make me grin. Though, I will give a mini-spoiler of sorts in regards to Keith that I can promise your not gonna like so, please, reframe your gunfire and don't aim at me; yeah, Stephanie may (or may not) get a little more tramatized a little down the road, note the keywords maybe or may not, again don't aim that thing at me! Keith set himself up for this for me! Also, the song suggestion is extended to you too, so let me know what song you'd like to see which couple perform.**

 **Crow-DarkHeart: Hope this chapter keeps you interested! Also, let me know if there are any songs you'd like to add to the, does this count as a playlist? Meh, you guys know what I mean.**

 **angleheart: Cute name, first of all. Second, I appreciate you trying despite the hard choices, I get it. If it makes you feel better, I'm pretty sure you weren't the only one who had a hard time choosing, and I gotta say, Krystal the Divine Serpent does sound pretty fitting. I do like it. To be honest I don't really like this part of the original Yu-Gi-Oh narrative either, but hey, what can you do? Its a fatal part of the story so not much I can do with it, and you are right, Mokuba would be pretty heartbroken if he ever found out about that stunt. Also, let me know what you think of Kaiba X Peridot ship, I was thinking MetalDragon or DragoHero, or something like that. Also, my offer for songs is extended to you too.**

 **This song suggestion also goes to others who do not normally post reviews, I'm genuinely curious to know what you guys think would work for a, how to put it, Romantic Soundtrack of sorts, for Battle City.**

 **Now, with that out of the way, lets get on with the chapter; last off Kaiba has challenged Yugi and Yami to a rematch, Mokuba has seemed to made an ally who has brought him out of the Shadow Realm to a different realm all together and Connie has discovered the Cool Kids and Kevin's gemstones. Now what will happen?**

 **Read to find out!**

* * *

Mokuba gasped in awe at his new surroundings. Long gone were the endless halls of brick and a golden sea seem to stretch on forever in every direction he turned as he followed his new companion around. Eyes drifting up the impossibly tall reverse golden waterfalls that seemed to disappear among the cotton candy clouds and the flying jellyfish. When he brought his eyes back down toward the ground, they were instantly drawn to the purple and pink crystal that made the isles of land they walked on and the rocks that dotted their shorelines, and the similar blue clover or lily-pad like trees.

"What is this place?" Mokuba asked once he found his voice. "The Realm of Magic, little one," Gregorio replied with a soft smile as he lifted Mokuba up onto a raised part of the an isle they were walking on, his umbrella resting on his shoulder, "The oldest plane of existence in the entirety of any history you'll come across."

"But-but magic isn't real!" Mokuba cried as he stopped walking, hand slipping out of Gregorio's, prompting him to stop. The tall male turned, face clearly betraying his surprise despite the heavy shadowing from both his parasol and his long bangs, as he questioned, "It isn't?"

"Seto always said if you can't see, feel or touch it or it has a perfectly logical explanation then it isn't real," Mokuba stated matter-of-factly, his absulote faith in his brother showing, "My brother never lies to me! So if he says magic doesn't exist, then it doesn't exist!"

"Well, I certainly won't say you and your brother aren't entitled to your opinions, I'd be a hypocrite to say otherwise," Gregorio replied rather calmly, "But if magical abilities or magic in general wasn't real, explain to me, how you were in those halls, being chased by the awful lizard or how I was able to save you or bring you here."

"I..." Mokuba had to take a moment to truly think of a response, "This is just a really bad dream! A really, really bad dream!"

"If this is all a dream, I have to serious worry for your mental state and home life," Gregorio commented catching Mokuba off guard, "As an avid researcher into the Dream Realm, believe me, I know what I'm saying when I tell you that everyone's respect Dreamscape reflects the Dreamer, both in good dreams and in nightmares; seeing how you are claiming to be of human and Earth origin, yet claim to be having a nightmare of a creature from another world entirely that's been dead for more than fifty years, pardon me for being a bit understandably confused, little one."

Mokuba was silent for a couple of moments, processing what he's been told, something in particular sticking in his mind, "That thing was from another world?"

"Correct, Mewni to be exact, a rather backwards dimension that mirrors Earth rather closely, bare a couple of details," Gregorio replied with a smile with a dismissive wave of his free hand, "But like I said, he's been dead for almost sixty years, give or take."

"Mewni?" Mokuba asked face squinting up in confusion. "Yeah," Gregorio chuckled at his expression, and understanding, yet amused gleam in his eyes, "I didn't name it."

"So, if that place back there isn't apart of here, what was it?" Mokuba asked. "Curious little one, aren't you?" Gregorio remarked as he once again took Mokuba's hand, helping him off the ledge back into the golden, oddly ankle-high, sea, "But to answer your question, in a way, that was technically apart of Earth, have you ever heard of the Astral Plane?" At Mokuba's nod, Gregorio continued to speak, "Think of it like that but much...darker..."

"Where are we going?" Mokuba asked curiously, but then gasped when the rounded a corner to where a more normal looking waterfall poured of the edge of a large cliff of crystal. At the bottom several little white foals with dark blackish-brown manes and tails, and golden butterflies on their flanks and striped horns frolicked about.

Mokuba got wide and starry-eyed as he asked, "Are those unicorns?" He took a few steps forward, but gasped again, eyes widening further with shock as two of the horned-foals ran straight through him as if he weren't even there.

"Millhorses, actually," Gregorio corrected gently as he waded over, unflinching as another pair of foals went through him as well, "I'm afraid they can't see or hear us, little one, we didn't come here the traditional way, if we had, we would've lost our memory long before now."

"Lost our memory?" Mokuba asked confused. "This is where all magic is created, old and new, a constant flow of creation," Gregorio explained raising his free hand to touch the waterfall, causing a ripple in the downward flow, "Its been a long standing theory that because of the unimaginably high concentration of raw, untapped and undirected magic, the realm causes all but the millhorses to quite quickly gain complete amnesia, unable to remember a single detail of their entire lives, not even their own name or age."

He gently pulled his hand back and replaced it on Mokuba's upper back, urging him back into walking as they once again trekked the next crystal isle.

"How is your umbrella able to do that?" Mokuba asked after a moment of walking, "To use magic?"

"That is because of the millhorse running inside it," Gregorio replied honestly as he brought his parasol down turning the crystal facing-up. Mokuba gasped in surprise when the crystal opened like a locket to reveal a small horse running on a treadmill, "Ever since my ancestor, Marssah* the First, the millhorses have been powering the Butterfly Family's Royal Wand for generations, for over a millennia." The crystal then closed.

"Over a millennia..." Mokuba murmured in awe at the familial history that was indulged. "Over eleven hundred years, to exact, but who's counting?" Gregorio grinned jokingly down at his little companion, making the young Kaiba laugh.

They came to the edge of the crystal isle and Mokuba gasped when he nearly walked off it, almost plunging over the side, not expecting the sudden drop, had Gregorio not grabbed him by the collar and pulled him back. "Careful there little one," Gregorio advised gently in a non-condescending way.

Looking up, whatever retort was on Mokuba's tongue died as his eyes traveled up from the finely crafted stairs of crystal next to them that lead down to a path of matching crystal. As they traveled up further, Mokuba felt his breath disappear at what he saw. It was a tall, imposing, yet beautiful European castle. Its tall walls made of smooth white stone, its towers' roofs resembled dewdrops or teardrops made of black and pink singles in a rather pleasing myriad of the two colors. And it was large, twice as big as the manor he and Seto called home.

Mokuba yelped in shock as he was picked up by his waist by Gregorio, only to then yell out as Gregorio jumped off the ledge, completely ignoring the stairs parasol raised high above his head. Mokuba felt the light of the crystal and watched in shocked-awe as their descent slowed to a float-like levitation. Gregorio didn't let him go until they landed in front of the castle's grand double doors, which had one large bright blue butterfly engraved upon it.

Closing his parasol, Gregorio lifted his wand up to take the door with the tip of the ferrule, not even seconds later did it slowly opened for them as Gregorio said with a smile, "Young Mokuba, allow me to be the first to welcome you, to New Butterfly Castle."

 _(Duelist Kingdom)_

"Man this duel is intense," Tea commented. "Remember, Yugi already beat Kaiba once before, remember?" Bakura reminded reassuringly. "I'd like to beat Kaiba," Jasper scowled punching one hand into the other, showing she meant a rather different type of 'beat'. "Easy there, Jasper," Stephanie said soothingly to her fellow quartz before returning her attention to the brunette duelist, falling into her thoughts, _'But there is something off about this duel, the Seto Kaiba Sour Cream always spoke about would never let his life points drop so low at the very start of the duel.'_

 ** _'Perhaps he's buying time for a stronger monster,'_** Primrose offered as she walked over to her lighter half. _'That's what worries me...'_ Stephanie admitted.

"I've got the best seat in the house to watch these losers go all out," Bandit Keith smirked from the tower window he sat himself at, now having the perfect view of the duel, "Which is fine by me, I get to scope out some of the competition early," His smirked widened as his eyes were drawn over to Stephanie, "And plot ahead."

 _'Kaiba is defiantly up to something; normally he enjoys taunting his opponents almost as much as he loves to win,'_ Yami thought with narrowed eyes, _'Sure in his duel with Peridot it was more like he was encouraging her, but this feels different, even from our first duel; this is all business.'_

"What's the matter Yugi?" Kaiba asked with a mocking smile, "Finally realized that without Exodia you can't defeat me?"

"I won't need Exodia to beat you Kaiba," Yami answered as Kaiba recalled his disc.

"If I keep drawing cards like this you will," Kaiba retorted after drawing, "I arm my genie with De-Spell!" He launched his disc once more, bringing forth his lamp and La-Jinn emerged from it, ready to battle, "De-Spell has the power destroy any magic card, a loss I know you can't afford," Several eyes widened at the revelation, then Kaiba ordered, "Now La-Jinn, activate De-Spell!"

La-Jinn brought up his hands, launching a blast of mystical energy at one of Yami's holographic cards, revealing it to be a copy of Swords of Revealing Light, before it was destroyed, drawing a startled shout from Yami, "No!"

"Looks like my genie has destroyed your Swords of Revealing Light," Kaiba laughed at the shorter male's misfortune, "You could have used it to delay the inevitable by three turns, but looks like it'll happen three turns sooner."

"Don't count on it Kaiba!" Yami retorted as he called back his disc and drew his next card.

"That genie is big trouble," Bakura said in concern, "And with that lamp out for it to hide in Yami can't touch him."

"Isn't there some way to destroy that lamp?" Tea asked in concern. Stephanie glanced at her spirit half, who shrugged her shoulders, eyes trained on the duel as Yami looked at his new card.

 _'This card might just do the trick,'_ Yami thought in contemplation, _'Mystic Box, it has the power to evict La-Jinn from his ancient lamp, but first...'_ He placed down a different card before launching his disc and Dark Magician reappeared again.

"Quite risky to use your Dark Magician once again Yugi," Kaiba commented, "You have no idea what I'm planning."

"Then let's take a lot, shall we?" Yami smirked as another of his holograms turned to reveal a trap card, "I use the power of the Eye of Truth!"

Kaiba's eyes widened in shock, "What?"

"The Eye of Truth knows all and sees all," Yami explained with a smirk, "Allowing me to see the cards in your hands."

Kaiba watched as his four holograms flipped around to face Yami and everyone's eyes widened at the four one; a familiar white dragon stared back at them.

"Blue Eyes White Dragon!" The Gems, Stephanie and Primrose exclaimed in shock. "You have a Blue Eyes White Dragon in your hand, but you haven't played it!" Yami said just as shocked.

"You can always count on Kaiba tah have a Blue Eyes White Dragon up his sleeve...or three," Joey commented with a heavy frown. "Three Blue Eyes White Dragons?" Bakura asked with wide eyes, "That's got to be impossible for Yami to beat!"

"Kaiba sure loves his Blue Eyes," Tristan shrugged. "Well, Yami and Yugi have beaten three Blue Eyes White Dragons before and they can do it again!" Tea said confidently. "I hope so Bright Light," Bismuth commented. "Yeah, cause he doesn't have Exodia this time," Peridot added from what she remembered of what they told them about Yugi and Kaiba's previous duel, "They're going to have to find another way."

 _'Yugi may have seen the Blue Eyes in my hand, but I doubt he could ever guess what I'm planning,'_ Kaiba thought smirking, _'Because its never been done before, I'm going to take all three of my Blue Eyes White Dragons and fuse them together into one unstoppable monster,'_ His smirked widened as he pictured his true ace, _'The Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon.'_

 _(Bach City)_

The Cool Kids and Kevin stared in shock, disbelieved-horror as Kevin pointed his katanna at an unconscious Connie's back. The utter void of any emotion on their normally vibrant and lively expression sent a shiver up their spines. Kevinw was especially disturbed, having never seen Jamie point a weapon of any kind at an innocent bystander and was especially disturbed as the four-pointed stars that made his pupils started to turn like the gears in a clock.

"Jamie...what the hell!" Jenny exclaimed once she finally managed to remove her mouth from her sleeve. "Jay...please remove your blade from her back," Kevin tried to plea with his usual kind friend.

"As soon as someone explains to me how _she,_ " Jamie stressed his sentence by pressing his blade closer to Connie's back, "Caught all of you in your alternate forms."

"We never heard her coming," Sour Cream explained, "You know that attack takes a lot out of us, the longer we're in these forms, the quicker we recharge, since we can't exactly retreat into our gemstones like the Crystal Gems can."

"You'd think you'd be able to recharge a little faster after all the practice we've done with it," Jamie commented, his tone of voice could've come off as playful, but it was seriously off with the continued void of anything on his face, he didn't even twitch a little smirk or smile, especially with how his voice came out filtered, almost like two people were speaking at one. "Clearly we need more practice," Jenny commented mostly to herself, trying to keep as much sarcasm and bite out of her voice as possible to keep from ticking Jamie off.

If Jamie found offense of any sort in her comment, he didn't show it, he simply said, "Clearly." Making her flinch.

"Her mother or our parents must have sent her to check on us," Buck said as calmly as possible as he tried to reason with Jamie, "We haven't exactly given them an excuse before shoving them off to the a room I'm pretty sure doesn't have any windows."

Jamie seemed to think this over in his head as he finally expressed something, mouth pressing into a thin line and eyes glancing to the side in thought. It made them all tense up further despite something finally seeping through the voided mask. It was still impossible to tell what was going through the Pearl-Hybrid's mind, or what even triggered these episodes in the first place.

Finally Jamie pulled his katanna away from Connie, making them all breath out a sigh of relief as he spun the sword in his hand to bring the tip close to his gemstone, turning it into lavender light as he put it away. But all thoughts of a truly positive outcome of this rather uncomfortable situation was squashed when Jamie stared them down with his still inhuman eyes and suddenly pressed a small foot down onto Connie's back instead, a dead-serious look on his face as he ignored the little girl's groan of pain and his fellow hybrids all tensed once more.

"Convince her that she never saw your gemstones," Jamie ordered them in a monotone voice, which cranked up the creepiness as the filtered sound was still in effect as the four-pointed stars turned into playing card diamonds, "Tell her it was all a dream from getting hit in the head, I don't care, or else, she takes the contract too and you know what they'll mean." All four young adults shivered at this, eyes wide as Jenny, Kevin and Buck touched their gemstones instinctively.

With these parting words, Jamie brought the foot off Connie's back, only to then bring it back and kick her in the side, hard, sending her sliding across the floor right into Jenny and Sour Cream, who were quick to fall to the floor to catch her and stop her from colliding into the chair or console and adding to her pain. Turning gracefully on his heel, Jamie felt.

Kevin stared after the normally kind and timid mailman-turned-hybrid in utter shock. Having never seen him use such violence before, much less in such a needless situation. The more he was a part of this, the more he saw of the others he was starting to like less and less of.

Jenny then shot him a look, "Still think there isn't something funky goin' on with him?"

Kevin had nothing to say and looked at the ground, completely bewildered.

 _(Duelist Kingdom)_

"Its time I extinguish your genie's lamp," Yami said pulling Kaiba out of his thoughts, "And to do it, I'll use the power of the Mystic Box."

A tall, block-like box formed around the Dark Magician and another enclosed the Ancient Lamp, forcing La-Jinn from hiding. Everyone to the side gasped in surprise. Kaiba shouted in shock, "A trick!"

"Its more than just a trick, watch closely Kaiba," Yami said and much like an actual professional magician, he held his audience, and opponent, captivated as they kept their gazes on the boxes, "As swords skewer one of the boxes," Sure enough, dozens of medieval swords plunged through the holes on Yami's box's side, making Stephanie jump and gasp, while Primrose's eyes widened in shock along with the Gems', "But have I destroyed my own Dark Magician?" Yami's lips curled into a smirk, "Or did I destroy your Ancient Lamp, just like a promised?"

Yami's box slowly opened as the others all watched with baited breath, even Maisie moved forward to better see what was inside. Imagine everyone's shock to see that it wasn't the Dark Magician, but Kaiba's lamp that was pierced by the many swords. "HUH?" Peridot and Jasper gaped in shock. "He did it!" Tea cheered raising a fist into the air. "Its just like my Discordious," Bismuth remarked in surprise.

"But...how...?" Kaiba said in utter shock as the box on his side opened the the Dark Magician stepped out, completely unharmed. "Now Kaiba, even you must know every good magician never reveals their secrets," Yami said in a very amused tone, a sly smile on his face, matching the one on the Dark Magician's own face as he wiggled a finger in a scolding fashion at Kaiba, infuriating the brunette further, before Yami ordered, "Destroy La-Jinn."

With nowhere to hide, La-Jinn took the full brunt of the Dark Magician's attack and was destroyed easily.

"No, my genie," Kaiba said in shock as the others cheered, save for Primrose, who simply smiled as Kaiba's life points dropped drastically.

 **Kaiba LPs: 800**

Kaiba was surprisingly quick to regain his composure and smirked, "An entertaining magic show, but pointless," He motioned to the cards in his hand, "You know I have a Blue Eyes White Dragon waiting in the wings, and I know that you have _nothing_ that can stand against it."

"You know nothing," Yami retorted calmly, "The Eye of Truth showed me _your_ hand, **_not_** the other way around."

"Well then, allow me to give you a lesson," Kaiba said as he recalled his disc and drew his next card, "I promise to make my next move painfully instructive," Kaiba then looked at his new card and a plan formed in his head, _'This Crush Card and Saggi the Dark Clown combination should allow to weaken Yugi's deck.'_ Mind made up, Kaiba placed both cards in position before launching his disc once again, a new monster appearing in another torrent of sparkling lights with a creepy cackle.

The Gems could only describe it as a slightly disfigured human male with White Court worthy skin with purple stripes on its thin, but long neck, a blue crescent moon on one side of its face and a yellow five-pointed star over the opposite eye, and a round red ball on the end of its otherwise pointed nose, its lips painted a light purple and was placed diagonally on its pointed face. It wore a strange purple hat that had a red, crown-patterned band and a gold bell at the end of the point, matching bells hung at the end of the pointed red collar of its blue puffy-shoulder and puffy-shorts one-piece outfit, the sleeves of which were decorated with darker blue triangles, which were also on its waistband and bottom of its pant legs. It wore purple gloves and ankle boots, yellow bands on its clothes and a pair of green and dark purple striped leggings.

 **Saggi the Dark Clown. Attribute: DARK. Tribe: SPELLCASTER. Lv: 3. ATK/DEF: 600/1500**

"Its official, he's lost it," Tristan said even Bakura had nothing to say with Kaiba's odd choice of monster. "Saggi the Dark Clown?" Joey said in disbelieved-confusion, "The Dark Magician can beat that thin' without liftin' a finger!" Jasper, Bismuth and Lapis all nodded in agreement as Stephanie, Primrose and Peridot stared in silent contemplation.

"Don't count your chickens before they hatch Mutt," Kaiba retorted to Joey, before smirking at the blonde, who growled, "Assuming you actually _can_ count."

"What did you just say?" Joey growled about to launch himself, startling Lapis, and would've to, had Bismuth not quickly reacted and held him back. "Calm down Golden Boy, sheesh!" Bismuth remarked as the Japanese teens all sweat-dropped.

 _'Why on earth would a high-calibar duelist like Seto summon such a weak monster like that against a monster like Dark Magician?'_ Peridot thought in confusion as she ran the scenario through her head. _'He didn't have any trap cards when I looked at his hand,'_ Yami thought as well as he called back his disc as he considered the gamble, _'He must have drawn some new ones, only one way to know for sure and I can't risk my Dark Magician.'_

Yami then drew and made his choice, "Excellent, I summon Gaia the Fierce Knight!" As he threw his disc, his duel-lanced warrior appeared.

"Ah, this takes me back," Kaiba remarked as Gaia charged to attack his clown, unable to help the wicked smirk that crossed his face, "Though I imagine the outcome will be very different this time." Peridot's eyes widened, realizing what he had planned.

"Yami, wait!" The green Gem shouted, but was too late as Gaia ran Saggi through, a sight that made Jasper flinch, a momentary flash in her mind's eye as the two monsters were briefly replaced in her sight with two tall pink Gems. She shook it off, unwilling to be held back by the past any longer.

"Your clown has be vanquished Kaiba," Yami said confidently, making Kaiba chuckle, which made Peridot and Stephanie tense.

"Vanquished and scarified are two _very_ different things Yugi," Kaiba replied as his clown broke into pieces, "Behold." Everyone else gasped in shock as the pieces of the clown turned into purple spores.

"What's happening?" Yami asked in shock, only to gasp as Gaia started to disintegrate, "Gaia!"

"Not just Gaia," Kaiba commented as the holographic card of the Dark Magician glowed before disintegrating as well. "What have you done Kaiba!" Yami demanded angrily.

"Its quite ingenious really; I knew you wouldn't be able to resist attacking my Saggi, so I infected him with the Crush Card Virus," Kaiba explained, "A virus so contagious and lethal, that even as I speak these words, its infecting everything but the weakest monsters in your entire deck." Sure enough, the display on Yami's disc for his life points flashed the word 'virus' instead in a purple coloring.

"My cards," Yami said in shock as the others watched on in alarm.

"Looks like I've broken the heart of your cards," Kaiba laughed cruelly, "And the only ones left unaffected by the Crush Card Virus are the monsters with attack points less than fifteen-hundred."

"Well played," Yami admitted good-naturedly, "But it will take more than a virus to defeat me Kaiba."

"I wouldn't expect you to lose like that anyways," Kaiba replied with a smirk, "I plan to subject you to a wide array of debilitating cards."

"This is bad," Peridot said despite being unable to not applaud the well planned trap. "With that virus in play Yami can only use his weakest of monsters and magic and trap cards to support them," Bakura agreed.

"What?" Bismuth and Lapis said in shock. "Ah man, how is he suppose to win now?" Tristan asked no one in particular.

"He'll win," Stephanie said confidently, "Somehow, I know he'll pull through; you'll see."

Yami drew his next card and couldn't help frowning when he saw what it was, _'The Summoned Skull; but I can't use him since he has over two thousand attack points, he'd be infected by Kaiba's virus the second he appears on the field.'_

"Face it Yugi, the only way you can keep dueling is by using your weakest monsters," Kaiba taunted lightly, "There should be a few of them left in that disease-ridden deck of yours."

"I summon Silver Fang in defense mode!" Yami announced launching his disc and his wolf appeared with a howl. "Ironic that the first of sacrificial lambs would be a wolf," Maisie commented making many jump as this was the first time she spoke up since the duel began and they had honestly forgotten the AI was even there, recording still. "She's talkative," Jasper commented sarcastically, making Lapis snort to herself.

Kaiba then drew and smirked wider, _'Perfect, my second Blue Eyes White Dragon; only one more to go, and then with one mighty blast I'll wipe Yugi out once and for all. But while I wait for my third dragon, I'll make him squirm.'_ He placed a different card and launched his disc, and his Battle Ox appeared.

"Ick, that thing **_still_** smells bad!" Peridot said covering her nose. "Battle Ox destroy Silver Fang!" Kaiba ordered and with a swing of Battle Ox's axe, Silver Fang was destroyed, "Your puppy has been put down."

"Its okay," Tristan said encouragingly, "Just a minor set back, no big deal."

"No big deal?" Jasper asked in disbelief, "He has nothing to defend himself with, especially if one of those white dragons are summoned!" Tristan flinched, conceding her point.

 _'Come on, you can do this,'_ Tea thought, _'No one has ever beaten you or Yugi in a duel, and nobody ever will.'_

"Why don't you just admit defeat Yugi?" Kaiba asked, "You know nothing in your crippled deck can defeat even my Battle Ox, so what hope do you have against my stronger beasts?" Yami frowned in response as he drew a new card, then, he smiled.

"Griffore, go!" Yami ordered as he launched his disc, "I summon you!"

His new monster was a pinkish-red creature that was large and almost armadillo-like**, but wasn't plated with two appendages that were clawed on either side of the middle of its back. Its head was somewhat wolf like and its eyes were yellow with diamond-shaped purple pupils.

 **Griffore. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: BEAST. Lv: 4. ATK/DEF: 1200/1500**

"Let's see you deal with this Kaiba!" Yami said. "A Griffore?" Kaiba said in amusement, "I think you've gravely miscalculated Yugi, his pathetic defenses are no match for my Battle Ox."

"Whoever said I was playing in defense mode Kaiba?" Yami asked with a smirk as one of his card holograms turned around to reveal a spell card, "I'm _attacking_ with my Griffore, while bolstering his power with the magical Horn of the Unicorn!" A familiar, electricity-crackling horn formed on his monster's forehead as its power increased.

 **Griffore. ATK/DEF: 1900/2200**

"Magic Lightning Attack!" Yami ordered and his monster fired a blast of bluish electricity from its new horn at Battle Ox, making the Gems and Stephanie flinch as it was destroyed.

"Way to go Yami!" Joey cheered. "Good show," Bakura agreed, "That was a great move at a critical juncture."

"I smell a comeback!" Tristan said excitedly as Stephanie smiled uneasily from the brief flashback to the Homeworld Trail and how Yellow Diamond had carelessly poofed her own Zircon. "That's one way of one-upping someone," Bismuth admitted a bit uneasily.

 **Kaiba LPs: 600**

"Now there was a move I wasn't expecting," Maisie commented idly.

"Impressive to use a combo attack to combat the effects of my virus Yugi," Kaiba admitted as he drew his next card, "But I'm afraid there are some hazards i my deck that are inevitable," He looked at his card and smiled to see his third Blue Eyes, _'Now all I need is a Polymerization to fuse them together.'_

"What's he smiling about now?" Lapis questioned with a suspicious frown. "I don't know," Stephanie replied, "But I don't like it."

"Its my move and I play Gift of the Mystical Elf," Kaiba announced launching his disc once more as the Mystical Elf appeared behind him, chanting a short spell under breath before disappearing in golden sparks, healing some of Kaiba's life points, "I know you have a knack for snatching victories from the jaws of defeat Yugi, but I won't let you do so, so easily this time around; that is why I used Gift of the Mystical Elf to increase my life points by three hundred."

 **Kaiba LPs: 900**

"Give him points for a quick recovery, however small," Jasper admitted.

 _'I've never seen Kaiba duel like this before; its so methodical and precise; he's leaving nothing to chance,'_ Yugi/Yami thought startled, _'It's as if this battle were of life and death to him.'_

"Behold," Kaiba said throwing his disc once more, "The Mighty Blue Eyes White Dragon!" His signature beast appeared, spreading its wings out to their full stretch as it threw its head back in an earth-shaking roar, the force of which sent air flying in all directions, making everyone sans for Kaiba himself shield themselves.

Stephanie noticed her skirt flying and shrieked, quickly pressing down to save her modesty, mentally envying how Lapis didn't seem to be having the same problem. However, she was unaware that this gave Bandit Keith, who was at just the right angle, to see her pure white, lace underwear as her skirt shot up in the back. Bandit Keith let out a strangled noise, falling backwards as bleed leaked from his nose, unable to stop the wide grin that spread across his face, _'Thanks for that Kaiba.'_

Stephanie shivered violently, while Kaiba suddenly sneezed, making the Gems all say, "Stars bless you."

 _(Beach City)_

Sour Cream, Buck and Kevin all tensed suddenly before dark looks suddenly appeared on their faces, much to Jenny's surprise.

"Do you guys sudden have the urge to kill old perverts?" Sour Cream asked the other two boys, much to Jenny's shock at his rather angry and, quite bluntly, murderous tone. "Oh yeah," Buck nodded seriously as Kevin started suddenly punched a wall, causing a spider-web crack to form. The rich young adult suddenly asked, "Have any of you heard back from Steph?"

 _(Duelist Kingdom)_

 _'He...he really summoned it,'_ Stephanie thought with wide eyes as she moved some hair out of her eyes to stare up at the dragon in awe as it took to the sky and hovered intimidatingly above its master.

"White Lightning!" Kaiba ordered prompting white electricity to cackle within his dragon's maw as it tilted its head back before releasing an all powerful blast, completely obliterating Griffore.

 **Yami LPs: 400**

"Now Yugi, tremble before the might of my dragon," Kaiba said, "Soon you will know what fear is like."

"Don't count on it Kaiba," Yami rebuffed, "I defeated your Blues Eyes before and I will do it again," He then tossed his disc and this time, Giant Soldier of Stone appeared, dropping into a defensive kneeling position, "And with my Giant Soldier of Stone, I will defeat him once more."

"So you think," Kaiba retorted as he drew, "When you defeated my Blue Eyes White Dragons before, they were three separate monsters, formidable, but not invincible," Stephanie's eyes widened, having an idea where Kaiba was going with this, "But now I've found a way to combine their power, to create a monster beyond imagining."

His card holograms turned around, revealing his other two Blue Eyes White Dragons and a Polymerization, making everyone gasp in shock.

"Oh this is bad, this is bad, this is bad!" Peridot said with wide eyes as realization dawned on her. "He's...fusing them," Stephanie said as the Blue Eyes in the sky began to glow before a beam of bluish-white light shot down from the sky, striking it and it changed.

The dragon still basically looked the same, same white plated scales, same blue eyes, only it now had three heads. One for each dragon used to form it.

"Behold the might and splendour of the Blues Eyes **_Ultimate_** Dragon!" Kaiba said with clear pride in his voice and fondness on his face as his new dragon roared, the force wouldn't have sent the humans flying had the Gems not grabbed them.

"Seriously, how are holograms doing that?" Peridot questioned as he ground her feet in to keep herself from flying along with Bakura.

 **Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon. Attribute: LIGHT. Tribe: DRAGON/FUSION. Lv: 12. ATK/DEF: 4500/3800**

"That jerk!" Joey shouted as Lapis pulled him back to his feet, glaring at Kaiba furiously, "He's been settin' Yami up fer that beast the entire time!" Kaiba had ducked down when the strange wind force the dragon created came his way and grinned once it was safe to stand up again.

 _'Kaiba has that punk-brat on the ropes,'_ Bandit Keith thought wickedly in amusement, finding satisfaction in Yami's situation, finding it fitting payback for the kick from before, _'Now his Ultimate Dragon will finish the job.'_

 _'Kaiba's played this duel brilliantly, first setting me up with Crush Card, then holding out for all three of his Blue Eyes White Dragons and whittling down my life points to a mere four hundred,'_ Yami and Yugi thought together the shock of the sudden outcome throwing their usual balance off, _'_ _Now I face the strongest duel monster I've ever seen.'_

"How I savor this moment; since you handed me my first Duel Monsters defeat," Kaiba stated looking rather pleased, "Prepare yourself to see the power of my creature unleashed!" He then pointed at Gaint Soldier of Stone and ordered, "Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon attack with Neutron Blast!" All three heads titled back before launching three blasts of pure white energy, which combined into one large sphere, completely destroying Giant Soldier of Stone, leaving not even data particles in its wake.

"My Stone Soldier!" Yami cried shielding his face from the force of the blast, but yelled out as he was knocked off his feet. "Yami!" Stephanie and Tea cried in alarm.

"You're lucky your soldier was in defense mode," Kaiba stated in a blunt, matter-of-fact mode, watching uncaringly as Yami slowly picked himself, "You should give up now Yugi or else my dragon will turn you to dust next turn." Yami said nothing and drew his next card, but hesitated.

"Pipsqueak!" Jasper suddenly shouted, getting everyone's attention, "You better not _dare_ even _consider_ giving up now! Not after making it this far!"

"She's right!" Lapis agreed much to the Gems' and Stephanie's surprises, "After Weevil, Mako and helping me, Jasper and Bismuth with our duels, you can't quit now!"

"Remember what you and Yugi are fighting for Yami!" Stephanie told him encouragingly, hand coming up to grasp her locket as she reminded herself as well why she was here, "You're grandfather!" Yami's eyes widened as he did remember.

"She's right; you came here to rescue your grandpa!" Joey added, "You're so close, you just can't give it all up now, not to him!"

"Come on Yami!" Tea said, "We're all behind you!"

"Yami!" Bismuth, Tristan and Bakura added in encouragement.

 _'They're right, Grandpa is depending on us to win this duel and defeat Pegasus, just as Stephanie's family is depending on her,'_ Yami and Yugi both thought, taking a deep breath to calm down, before Yami glared Kaiba down and almost snarled in his defiance, "I will **_never_** surrender Kaiba, not when there is so much riding on my victory!"

"That's it; I want to defeat you while you're dueling at your hardest," Kaiba said with a grin of anticipation, "So draw your next card, its time we finish this."

 _'You can do it Yami,'_ Tea, Tristan and Bakura all thought confidently. _'This is one close duel, with a monster like that Seto is guaranteed to win, but Yugi and Yami have beaten him before, so who knows,'_ Peridot thought. _'That pipsqueak better not lose,'_ Jasper thought. _'He can do it,'_ Lapis and Bismuth thought confidently.

Maisie noted their confident expressions and couldn't help remarking, "They really think they can win."

"Kick his ass Yami!" Joey encouraged. "You can do it Yami!" Stephanie added prompting Yami to glance over and meet her eyes, she smiled at him, which he returned as he prepared to draw.

 _'Heart of the Cards, guide me,'_ Yami thought before exclaiming, "Let's finish this Kaiba!"

 _(Meanwhile)_

In his chambers, Pegasus was flipping through a large, thick and ancient looking book. The cover was made of thick brown leather and the classic key lock was a little rusty from obvious age, but otherwise looked remarkably well-kept and in shape all things concerned. The pages were aggressively yellowed and wrinkled from age, prompting a very careful and gentle hand when handling them, varying hole-ridden bookmarks stuck out of the sides of the un-turned and post-turned pages, diagrams and paragraphs all varying assortments were either neatly or hazardly displayed to the rapt attention of the CEO.

"I don't know why you keep that thing," A male voice said idly, "You can't use a single thing in it without the proper tool."

"Perhaps not," Pegasus responded, "But you know a wand or cheekmarks aren't all their is to being able to use magic, don't you, Sir Glossaryck?"

The voice that had questioned him belonged to a three-inch tall male being that floated in the air in a meditative, cross-legged position. He was blue skinned with pink-diamond-shaped irises and pupils, a matching pink gem in his forehead, and had a twin-tailed beard, as well as twelve fingers, six on each hand. He was dressed in a yellow, robe-like tunic with a blue pendant on the chest cut in a diamond-like shape and looked rather bored.

"Be that as it may, you do know that by inviting them to this tournament of yours is putting your little plan in a larger jeopardy then necessary, right?" Glossaryck retorted with an arched brow. "I like to think if they knew what I plan to do, they won't be so upset," Pegasus replied dismissively.

That made Glossaryck laugh, "You make it sound like they'd be all for disturbing the natural balance for a selfish whim," Pegasus shot the little being an annoyed look, but Glossaryck just grinned, "You might have the book, but that doesn't mean I have to like you; I'm simply telling you the truth, I know those two, no amount of age is going to tip things out of bounds on the _chance_ something like this could work, however much they might want it to."

"And you underestimate the power of grief," Pegasus retorted harshly closing the book, causing Glossaryck to simply shrug before vanishing to who knows where.

Pegasus sighed through his nose, pinching the bridge of it. Perhaps he was overestimating the power of grief or underestimating one's resolve, but he knew, for all it was worth, he to try. He had come to far to give up now, not when the final pieces were just within his reach.

He turned in his chair to look at a hand painted oil-painting that hung up on the wall framed by a pair of dark silk drapes. It was a stunning full-body portrait of a beautiful woman with knee-long golden hair and beautiful, round, innocent blue eyes, and a light olive tan to her skin. She wore a beautiful, if a bit simple, soft blue gown trimmed with pink lace and around her neck was a simple white gold necklace with a ruby pendant. She sat in a fancy arm chair with green plush, both hands clasped in her lap, a soft, fond smile on her angelic face.

The planetary symbol for Neptune, a pair of tridents, crossed at the bottom like a 't', tattooed her cheeks in a simple, but pretty soft, pale bluish-green color.

* * *

 **And done! That got done quicker than I thought it would. Also, congrats on those who figured out the additional crossover was Star VS the Forces of Evil. You win a butt load of fictional cookies!**

 **Anyways, let me know what you guys think of the chapter and the new details I've added. What do you think of the concept of New Butterfly Castle? Or Mokuba being in the Realm of Magic? What about Glossayrck? I'm interested to know what you guys think.**

 **Now on to my * notes:**

 **Marssah*: I know that in Meteora's Lesson, Glossayrck called who we can only assume to be the first Moe, but I imagine that after a span of time her actual name would be lost and they come up with something else to call her. Plus, I'm kinda limited on the astrological terms to use for Butterfly OCs, so I kinda used some leeway and planetary terminology to come up with something. Its basically a combination of Mars and Sarah for those who didn't immediately catch on.**

 ****: I honestly wasn't entirely sure how to describe Griffore so I sorta winged it. I did my best here. Look it up if my description doesn't work for you.**

 **Now, to the unofficial polls:**

 **First off, should Yugi and Yami duel Pegasus and keep their title as Kings of Games or should Stephanie and Primrose become the Queens?**

 **King: 8, Queen: 2**

 **Should Stephanie get an Egyptian God Card, however temporarily?**

 **Yes: 5, No: 6**

 _ **If**_ **yes, then which?**

 **Obelisk: 2, Ra: 1, Slifer: 1**

 **So it looks like Yugi and Yami are going to be keep their title as King and its looking pretty fency on Steph and Prim getting an Egyptian Card. Slifer's finally getting some love, but if Stephanie does end up getting one, its looking to be most likely Obelisk.**

 **Still, I have that poll at the top of my author-page, home-page, whatever you want to call and so far its looking pretty good, people seem to really like the idea of Mayan God Cards.**

 **Well, until next time everyone! Remember to review!**


	23. Chapter 23

**In fear of sounding like a broken record: I do not own Steven Universe or any of its original characters nor do I own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of its original characters, I can say, however, that I do own Stephanie, her yami, Primrose, and all OCs I chose to make, including original Crystal Beasts, i.e. Bismuth Beaver, Crystal Myths, i.e: Garnet Mother Time, and other original cards. If I _did_ own Steven Universe, trust me, things would've been a lot different and if I own Yu-Gi-Oh there would've been a way for Atem to stay and have all his memories.**

 **foxchick1: Congrats on being right! Nice to know you appreciate my little twists!**

 **LegionnaireBlaze: First, language. Second, I'm going to take it that I'm doing something right here. Lol!**

 **Lady Twilight Prime: Too bad about the song, I gave a listen too and I got to admit, where all the relationships stand at the moment, it would be a bit of a bold choice; but it is an admit-ably entertaining notion to consider later on. Also, believe when I say this with the best intentions, please don't ever change, your reviews never fail to make me smile, I shared them with a classmate and even she cracked a grin. Though, I do have a question for you; what do you think of the situation on the Sun Incinerator with Jamie, Kevin, Connie and the Cool Kids? I noticed no one seems to be really talking about them since I revealed their gemstones. Just curious.**

 **Solartiger: I love that song, one of my favorites in the new Disney collection and I can see it as a Yugi/Yami and Stephanie song, mostly a Yugi and Stephanie as it would be, in a sense, the both of them realizing how much things have changed for them. If you come up with any other suggestions or have any questions in general, please, let me know.**

 **Now, with all that out of the way, lets get on with the chapter and the duel, shall we?**

* * *

 _(The Realm of Magic)_

Mokuba was in complete awe as he followed Gregorio through the majestic hallways and corridors within New Butterfly Castle. The pillars widely spaced out in added support to the high, curvature ceiling, round, ornate stands made of the same white marble as everything else, decorated with gold. Sitting on each one were equally ornate, hand painted vases filled with bittersweets, white carnations, chamomiles, daffodils, edelweisses, forget-me-nots, blue and purple hyacinths, lilies, lotus flowers, magnolias, marigolds, red, pink and white roses, snapdragons, gladiolus, sunflowers, red tulips and violets. Between each stand were a perfectly assembled set of sliver plated suits of armor, each helmet having a different colored feather and had a different symbol; a heart, a diamond, a butterfly, a lightning bolt, an hourglass, a heart, a three or four-pronged clover, even a crescent moon and four-pointed star. There were even potted ferns, lady's mantles, lemon balms, even rosemaries, mint, myrtles, sage and thyme.

The windows were tall and arched, framed with silk red drapes, just like he's seen in pictures. Golden suns and crescent moons decorated the drapes in sparkling thread, matching the deep teal ones on the pillars. Long crimson carpets blanketed the long floors. Each set of doors were either singular or double made of heavy set mahogany or oak, each one decorated with a different flower.

It all honestly looked and felt like something directly out of a dream or a fantasy genre movie or book.

"What is this place?" Mokuba asked in awe.

"I told you, this is New Butterfly Castle; the home of my ancestors," Gregorio answered with a patient, gentle smile and tone. "So, this is also a place where dead people go?" Mokuba asked curiously.

"No, not in the way you're probably think," Gregorio chuckled fondly, "Being so imbued with magic for so long, has become so ingrained in us Butterflies, some are brought here instead of the Realm of the Dead, the only thing they all have in common is that they were or were in-line to be Queen and was in possession of the Royal Wand, even if just for as little as a day; they're brought here to give guidance to the present Queen or Princess, or Prince in some rare cases, should they ever need them."

Mokuba listened with rapt attention, awed and slightly envious of the obvious familial bond of the Butterfly Family that clearly transcended time and logic.

"But...why am I here?" Mokuba asked sounding a bit confused why he was brought here.

"Simple; in that other plane, you were open to any form of being to attack and take over for a chance at life again," Gregorio replied simply, taking Mokuba off guard, "Here you're perfectly safe, no one, not even that lizard or even Maxie during this _phase_ of his, would ever dare try to attack here, especially with all of us present; it would be suicide."

Mokuba thought this over and conceded that Gregorio had a point. If what he said about the Butterflies to be true, then even Earth military would be foolish to try and attack here with all of his, apparently still capable, ancestors standing guard and capable of similar spells he had seen Gregorio use if not worse ones. The idea made him shudder a little.

"They should be...here?" Gregorio said holding out his parasol as the gem glowed once more, prompting the stain-glass gladiolus to glow before the door opened on its own, Gregorio frowned when he realized it wasn't the room he was looking for, "Darn it, did Festivia switch the halls around **_again_**?"

Mokuba, however, lost his breath as he went further into the tall, spacious circular room, mouth hanging open in awe. Hanging from the tall, spacious walls were beautifully woven tapestries that didn't look a day over a year old, in perfect condition. Each one depicted a beautiful woman of a different age, all of different appearances; dresses, hairstyles, hair colors, eye colors, even different cheek-marks and wands. There only two young men and even they held little to no perfect similarities outside the round cheeks and having cheek-marks and a wand in general. Each was even displayed in a different pose or scene.

"Wow...are they all Butterflies?" Mokuba asked in awe, making Gregorio chuckle. "Yes, this is what my mother liked to call 'The Grandma Room', since each tapestry depicts a past queen or princess during their crowning achievement," Gregorio explained with a slightly more strained smile, "Each of us has a unique title of sorts that sets us all apart, be it through our individual talent, even during our time or personality trait."

Mokuba's eyes were drawn in particularly to one such tapestry of a familiar looking brunette and his parasol wand. He couldn't have been any older than Mokuba himself in the scene, smiling brightly as he held his wand up high and proud, the canopy open and the crystal was casting brilliant beams of magical light. His hair was shorter back then, falling over his shoulders, life and joy seemed to glow in his eyes, his orange music note marks highlighted proud on his cheeks. He was dressed rather modernly compared to the others; a simple black shirt with a five-pointed star on it under a crimson vest, jean shorts and white and red sneakers. The background was streaks of bright colors that seemed to have been coming from the boy in the center; cartoon hearts, stars, rainbows and kittens flying everywhere.

Mokuba looked down at the stone display beneath and upon moving closer, noticed the inscription on it:

 _ **What the mother had destroyed, the son brought back**_

 _ **He sought to bring happiness and fun back, despite his father's forewarn**_

 _ **Reviving his family's lineage, he continues to surprise**_

 _ **For that is the life of Shadow the Newborn**_

"This is you?" Mokuba asked. "I wasn't that much older than you when that happened," Gregorio mused looking at his tapestry with a rather dulled and bored look on his face, "I can't believe how short I used to be, good thing I got my dad's height."

Opened his mouth to asked about the rhyme, when another set of doors suddenly opened, followed by a female voice exclaiming in excitement, "Shadow!"

Gregorio's face brightened so fast it threw Mokuba for a loop before he quickly turned around, exclaiming back, "Great _Abuela_ Comet!"

He rushed to embrace the exotically beautiful woman that entered the room as Mokuba watched. She was tanned with long lavender colored hair that was up in a heart-shaped hairdo with a ponytail trailing down from it, beautiful purple eyes and a light purple butterfly on each cheek, no taller then five-ft. She wore a gorgeous gown that was mostly a sea-green, the over skirt trailing behind her slightly, the train of which was trimmed with white frill, the under skirt was white as well and was layered, reddish-pink hearts trimming the bottom layer, completely hiding her feet, the top of the skirt were the over skirt opened to show the under skirt was printed with a reddish-pink butterfly. The top of the gown had the classic puffy-princess shoulders, which were trimmed with reddish-pink frill, matching the bow in the front of the chest and the trim of the long, whitish-green sleeves. The neckline also had a slightly raised light green frill collar. To complete the outfit was the light pink belt with a darker butterfly buckle, a gold, three pronged crown with purple diamond-like cut gems and gold-crescent moon earrings that dangled.

Imagine Mokuba's surprise to see what he could only describe as a bejeweled rolling pin in her hand. The dowel-handle led up to a heart and had white wings on either side and the topper was a blue crystal with white wings on either side. It took a moment to realize this was one of Gregorio's ancestors and this was simply her version of the Royal Wand.

"Oh Shadow, its been so long!" Queen Comet Butterfly cooed over her great-grandson as they hugged, before stepping back, craning her neck as she grabbed his face, "Let me look at you! You're so tall! Did you do something to your hair? I don't remember it being so long."

" _Abuela_ Comet, calm down, its only been maybe a month!" Gregorio laughed fondly with a loving expression, "And no, I didn't do anything with my hair."

"Well, forgive me if time here doesn't exactly correspond with Earth time...or Mewni time for that matter," Comet replied with a playful, childish puff of her cheeks and roll of her eyes, a playful tone in her voice, "And are you sure? I could've sworn you wore it differently your last visit."

"I'm pretty sure," Gregorio assured with a chuckle. Then, Comet noticed Mokuba and smiled as she walked around her great-grandson and knelt in front of him, a friendly smile on her face, "And who might this cutie pie be?" Mokuba blushed darkly, much to Gregorio's amusement.

" _Abuela_ Comet, meet Mokuba, another unfortunate soul Maxie has pulled into his hairbrained scheme," Gregorio introduced, "Mokuba, meet my great grandmother, Comet the Chef, the thirty-fifth queen of Mewni."

"Hello," Mokuba greeted shyly. "Its nice to meet you Mokuba," Comet smiled sweetly, before holding up her free hand and with a wave of her wand, she conjured a cupcake in a reddish-pink tin and topped with a swirl of bright blue icing and heart-shaped purple sprinkles, "Cupcake?" Mokuba got starry-eyed.

" _Abuela_..." Gregorio said warningly with a more playful then scolding expression. "What?" Comet asked him looking and sounding affronted, "Its magic and potion free, I swear!"

Mokuba immediately took it and bowed politely, "Thank you!" Making Comet coo at his gentlemanly behavior as gave an experimental taste of the icing and grinned widely at the butterscotch flavor.

"Solaria, Festivia and mom are going to love him!" Comet smiled making Gregorio groan, his usual friendly expression finally dipping into a less than pleased one. Apparently these were ancestors he was less then fond of.

"Where's _Senor*_ Muto?" Gregorio asked as Comet took Mokuba's hand and they left the tapestry room. "Still out on the patio with Justhin, Celena and Rhina," Comet answered. "Mr. Muto? Is Yugi here?" Mokuba asked icing now all over his mouth from enjoying his treat. "Close," Gregorio replied conjuring a handkerchief and handed it to Comet, who gently wiped his mouth clean, not that Mokuba minded, he got a really strong motherly feeling from her and it felt nice to be cared for like that, "His grandfather is here, actually."

The walked down some stairs and went out an open corridor that led outside and Mokuba gasped in awe of the beautiful rose bushes that surrounded the enclosed area, an elegant gazebo set right in the middle, figures he couldn't quite identify from their distance. No two bushes had the same colored flower, giving a splash of color to the scene as actual butterflies fluttered about peacefully, adding to the dream-like atmosphere. Kneeling at one bush in particular were two women, both appearing to be in their mid to late twenties.

One had bushy teal hair of curls and mauve-grayish-purple eyes, a pair of crimson spades on her cheeks, popping out against her fair skin. She wore a slightly more modern dress in comparison to Comet, being more pencil-skirted and a maroon purple in color with a matching sunhat. The top of the dress had a white collar with a black crescent moon and a strip of white faux fur decorated the hat band with a twig of sorts.

Resting by her side on the ground was a parasol strikingly similar to Gregorio's in shape but vastly different in design. It was more European where as Gregorio's was of Spanish design. This one being a pinkish-purple with a plant symbol in place of a crystal and bat wings.

The other woman was much taller with a buzz cut all around her head, save for a combination of a Mohawk and braid that swept past her waist and knees of deep red hair and light turquoise eyes, a yellow lightning mark on each cheek. She wore a pale red dress with heart-themed grayish armor plating over the chest, shoulders and over her fingerless black gloves.

Lying on the ground next to her was a sword with a red energy blade.

"Hello Shadow, darling!" The teal-haired woman called waving upon noticing them. "Found another scraggler, I see," The other woman commented as they tended the bush they knelt by.

"Hey _Tia_ 'Clipsa, _Abuela_ Solaria," Shadow replied with a smile, waving back, "Roses are as beautiful as ever."

"Of course they are, my daughter's the one tending them," The redhead said smiling lovingly at her companion, who smiled back, clearly touched.

Mokuba couldn't smiling at their relationship, despite the home-sickness rearing its ugly head. He really hoped Seto was okay, and Maisie.

 _(Duelist Kingdom)_

"It doesn't matter what card you play Yugi," Kaiba stated matter-of-factly, "All of the monsters left in your deck are nothing compared to my Ultimate Dragon," Yami glanced at his new card and smiled, chuckling, much to Kaiba's irritation, "What's so funny?"

"I've just drawn the that'll defend me against your Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon," Yami stated as he recalled his disc, making everyone gasp in shock.

"No way!" Peridot and Maisie exclaimed. "You're bluffing!" Kaiba said.

"It's no bluff, watch," Yami replied as he set the cards appropriately, then launched his disc again, "Kuriboh in attack mode!" The hairball appeared on the field and cooed, blinking innocently.

"Eee!" Stephanie kept her squeal down this time, happy to see the little guy again, but was just as shocked as the others all the same at Yami's choice in monster.

"Seriously Pipsqueak!" Jasper said in disbelief, "That's your big move!"

"I really think he's cracked," Lapis said in disbelief. "What was he thinking?" Tristan asked. "Maybe the stress is finally getting to him?" Bakura suggested unsurely.

"I kinda have to agree with them Yami," Stephanie said, "As adorable as Kuriboh is, he's no match for that thing," Both Kuriboh and Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon gave her affronted looks; Kuriboh for the unintentional insult and Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon for being called a thing, making her chuckle nervously and quickly add, "No offense, mind you, no offense!"

"Are you nuts?" Kaiba demanded of Yami, "In the entire game Kuriboh is the weakest monster!" Kuriboh glared with a huff, making Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon chuckle.

"As much as I hate tah say it," Joey began. "Then don't say it," Bismuth told him. "Kaiba has a point," Joey continued, "Why on Earth would he play that?"

"You're free to concede defeat at any time, but don't outright embarrass yourself by playing that furball," Kaiba told Yami as Kuriboh cooed in frustration at being looked down on, "That monster can't hope to withstand the unbridled might of my Ultimate Dragon, so end your turn so I can knock the stuffing out of your head that's clearly impairing your judgement."

"As you wish, but first my last card for this turn will be the magic card Multiply," Yami said, "This cards works on any monster with an attack below five-hundred."

Everyone watched as Kuriboh began to glow and copies began to form until Yami's entire field was swarming with hundreds of them. Stephanie was barely able to keep her squealing to a low minimum at the increased amount of cuteness in front of her.

"That's a lot of hairballs," Joey commented blinking, taken aback. "No, yeah think?" Jasper said sarcastically.

"I'll burn them all to a crisp!" Kaiba glared, "This won't stop me!"

"Um...sir?" Maisie said. "So you think Kaiba," Yami said in challenge, "Attack and find out for yourself just how strong my defense is."

"Sir," Maisie tried again. "Neutron Blast Attack!" Kaiba ordered completely ignoring his AI, "Wipe them all out!" His dragon's three heads combined their attack and fired it at the wall of continuously multiplying Kuribohs, kicking up a large cloud of dust, "So much for your wall of hairballs." Imagine his and the others shock to see most of the Kuriboh were still there and instantly began to replacing what was destroyed.

"What's going on?" Bismuth asked confused, "Shouldn't that blast have destroyed all of them?"

"The Multiply card!" Bakura and Stephanie realized.

"You're life points weren't effected at all," Kaiba said stumped, "What have you done?"

"I've simply created the ultimate defense," Yami replied with a small smirk, "You can't reduce my life points until you've destroyed _all_ of the Kuriboh," He then chuckled, smirk widening, "Of course, that means you'll have to attack and destroy them faster than they can multiply." His group of humans, Gems and one hybrid all cheered for his clever move.

"In short sir," Maisie informed her shocked master, "You need to either find a way to get them to stop multiplying or increase how many times the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon can attack per turn."

"This...this just can't be..." Kaiba said in shock, "For each one I destroy, two more take its place!"

"This is just the beginning Kaiba," Yami told him, "Because now I go on the attack!"

"But you have nothing strong enough!" Kaiba reminded him as the rest watched on in anticipation. "Watch me; I'll show you the combination that will bring your dragon down," Yami rebuffed as his holographic cards turned around to reveal his Mammoth Graveyard, a Polymerization and another magic card with the picture of an arrow on it, "Mammoth Graveyard, Polyermization and the Living Arrow card!"

"What's a Living Arrow card?" Kaiba asked confused. "Now there's a first," Joey smirked, "A card the great Seto Kaiba don't know." Jasper and Peridot smirked as Bismuth and Lapis snorted.

"Living Arrow allows me to use my cards in combination, not with my own cards but with the cards of my opponent," Yami explained as the three holographic cards overlapped each other, "I'll show you; normally, I make a fusion with my cards, but for a new twist Living Arrow lets me fuse my cards with yours, opening up new possibilities." Mammoth Graveyard emerged from the cards and charged at Kaiba's dragon.

Kaiba was taken aback as he asked, "Now what?" Before Mammoth Graveyard turned into the same golden arrow that was on Yami's spell card.

"I use the power of the Living Arrow to bond my Mammoth Graveyard to the very _heart_ of your beast!" Yami said before the arrow stuck Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon right in the chest where its heart would be, making all three heads roar out in agony, making the group cover their ears, no one noticing how Stephanie looked stricken. "My dragon!" Kaiba shouted in alarm.

Everyone watched with wide eyes as the skull of Yami's mammoth emerged from the dragon's chest, giving off an aura of death and decay. It made Stephanie shiver and recoil.

"What's going on?" Tea asked as the aura encompassed the entirety of Kaiba's dragon.

"Since my Mammoth Graveyard is an _undead_ monster, thus is unable to perfectly fuse with your clearly **_living_** dragon," Yami explained a smirk forming on his face, "Instead it causes your monster to oh-so slowly rot and decay from the inside out; each turn your dragon will lose attack points until it is no more."

"No, there must be something I can do to save my dragon," Kaiba said in denial as he looked to his deck, trying to think of a plan, but was coming up a little short. "Sir..." Maisie said her voice holding a type of sympathy and regret.

"My Mammoth Graveyard has an attack of twelve hundred," Yami continued, "So with each turn, your Ultimate Dragon loses twelve hundred attack points until it is weak enough for even Kuriboh to destroy."

Stephanie's eyes widened in horror as Kaiba's dragon started to decay, its beautiful white scales slowly turned a dull, grayish color and started to turn sludge-like, dripping off like chunky, semi-liquid mud. She covered her mouth as tears prickled her eyes, heart lerching in her chest at the pain-filled growl the dragon let out. She had to fight every instinct that was screaming at her to help it, to relieve its pain.

 **Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon. ATK/DEF: 3300/3800**

"Alright!" Tristan grinned, "That single attack just brought Yami back from the brink!"

"Way to go Yami!" Tea cheered. "You've had it Kaiba!" Joey grinned, "Ya can't win this match now!"

"He did it, the Pipsqueak really managed to turn this around," Jasper said in amazement. "Goes to show there's more to organics then we thought, huh?" Bismuth joked lightly, making the Quartz roll her eyes. "Somehow, Yugi and Yami always manage to pull through," Lapis commented with a smile.

However, Peridot noticed that Stephanie didn't look particularly happy despite the obvious win it guaranteed Yami. In fact, from all expressions she had learned about from watching Pining Hearts, Peridot could tell the hybrid was doing everything in her power to keep herself from being sick as she stared at the clearly in pain dragon as it began to fall apart from the inside out. It was then that Peridot remembered how kind and gentle of a soul Stephanie was and seeing this, even if it was just a hologram, must have been tearing at her heart.

Of course, what Peridot didn't know was that Stephanie was heavily sheltered, even the movies she watched with Lars was always rather censored. The worse she had ever seen something rot had always been plant-life she healed with her saliva. She had never seen so much as roadkill before. So needless to say it was hard for her to keep her stomach calm.

"Steph?" Peridot asked softly, concerned. Stephanie just turned her head away from the dragon, unable to watch it rotting as her stomach rolled at the sight.

 _'I never thought I'd see the day Seto Kaiba was outfoxed,'_ Bandit Keith thought as he watched, _'That star-haired punk really is something else, its like he'd never let anyone stand in his way,'_ His eyes once again drifted over to Stephanie, who still had her hand over her mouth and the other on her stomach, clearly trying not to be sick, _'But then again, he's never met anyone like Bandit Keith,'_ He smirked, noting the state the girl was in, _'Guess Kaiba's graphic are little **too** much.'_

"I can't lose this duel, the fate of Mokuba's soul is depending on me winning," Kaiba murmured to himself, panicking, before shouting in desperation, "Neutron Blast!" Everyone shielded themselves as the force of the blast, though weaker the the first time, was still enough to send cloths fluttering and dust flying.

"When will you learn?" Yami asked tsking his tongue as the smoke cleared and the Kuriboh that were destroyed were quickly replaced, "The Kuriboh multiply faster than you can eliminate them with your attack."

"No, I can't be defeated," Kaiba said his panic slowly becoming more evident as Yami drew. "I'll let my Mammoth Graveyard finish my turn," Yami stated as the three-headed dragon growled in furthered pain, making Stephanie flinch and when she glanced over, she nearly lost it as the decaying got worse. The dragon almost looked like a liquefied skeleton at this point, she could also smell the rotting flesh.

 **Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon. ATK/DEF: 2100/3800**

 _'Soon my dragon will be weak enough for Yugi to destroy out right,'_ Kaiba thought, _'But I've got to keep trying, its my only hope,'_ With no other choice, he commanded once more, "Go Ultimate Dragon, Neutron Blast!" His dragon used its attack once more, this time so weakened the force didn't cause much of an effect on anything around it, and once again, the wall of Kuriboh was left unaffected.

"Once again your attack has failed Kaiba; my defense holds, and you have no other strategy to use against me," Yami stated, "Your time is running out, you never should have challenged me Kaiba: you see, my mammoth takes another twelve hundred points from your dragon." Kaiba started to shake, which only Peridot notices.

 _'What's wrong with him?'_ Peridot wondered, _'He's just as shaken up as Stephanie is, more than he really should be,'_ She became uneasy, _'Somethings not right here.'_

Lapis quickly catches on to her shift in mood and arches a brow, especially when she notices what has her concerned, _'What's with her? Does it have something to do with Kaiba?'_ She thinks it over and shrugged.

 **Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon. ATK/DEF: 900/3800**

"Even my weakest of monsters can destroy your dragon now," Yami said.

 _(Seto's Mind)_

 _'No, I failed...'_ Seto thought in horrified-despair, staring at his rotting dragon, _'I've failed my brother; his soul...trapped forever...gone...just like...just li-li-like...'_ Tear swelled in light blue eyes as everything seemed to melt away from existence, leaving only him and his dragon in a dark void and a younger version of Mokuba appeared, trapped in the rotting husk of a monster, the oozing sludge sliding into his face.

 _"Seto! Seto, help me!"_ The image called out to him, fearful and pleading and Seto could only stand there, froze and in tears as the image was slowly sinking into and being consumed by the rotting corpse, _"You promised! You promised you'll always help me!"_

 _"Mokuba!"_ Seto heard before seeing a younger version of himself running towards the rotting husk, intent on saving Mokuba, but no matter how fast he tried to move, he never seemed to get any closer. _"Seto!"_ The image of Mokuba cried out. _"Don't worry, I'll help you!"_ The younger Seto tried to assure as he seemed to slowly stop running in place, but was too late.

 _"ANIKI!"_ The younger Mokuba screamed in fear as he disappeared into the rot completely. _"MOKUBA!"_ Younger Seto screamed but stopped with a gasp as the husk melted into a puddle of slime onto the ground, completely falling apart.

 _"You're rotten to the core Kaiba, just like that dragon,"_ His younger self told him and Seto suddenly looked at his hand, only to see the skin start to rot and drip like his dragon, making him gasp in shock, before looking up at his younger self, who turned a teary-glare at him, filled with utter loathing and hatred, _"Why Seto? Why couldn't you help him?"_ Seto barely registered the feeling of tears trickling down his own face as he watched them fall down his younger self's cheeks, _"You promised them! You promised Seto! Why didn't you help him? Like you didn't help THEM!"_ Without warning, he lunged at Seto, who shielded himself, but his younger self disappeared, when Seto looked up, his heart jumped into his throat.

Two imposingly tall figures stood towering over him, their arms crossed and despite their bangs heavily shadowing the majority of their upper faces, there was no mistaking the deep twisted scowls of disappointment that their mouths were set into as they looked down on him. The feeling of being stared down by them that way; it burned hotter than any sun, made his stomach colder than any winter and crushed his chest harder than any boulder.

Both were remarkably young, late twenties. Matching golden bands on their left hands with sweetheart-cut red stones on them.

One, the shorter one, was a beautiful woman with tanned skin and knee-length brown hair, the same chocolate-brown shade as Seto's, pulled up in ponytails with long red hair-ties with ladybug black spots and messy bangs similar to Mokuba's. She was dressed in a black satin, strapless sundress that fell past her knees trimmed with red with white lacy layers underneath. Around her waist was a blue belt with a long, rectangular pocket on either side and a white heart-shaped buckle. Knee-length white-lace socks, slightly shorter black leather boots with sunny yellow belts and matching white heart buckles. Over her slim shoulders was a cropped black, short-sleeved jacket with blood-red trim and matching fingerless gloves. To complete her outfit was a bright, sunny yellow, star-shaped pendant hanging from her neck from a silver necklace.

The man was as tall as Seto, maybe a little taller with the same fair skin and sharp features and short hair-length, only his hair was wilder, messier and was the same ink black as Mokuba's with two locks of dark purple dyed hair, the gleam of a gold stud in his the ear opposite of the dyed locks. He was dressed in a jacket remarkably similar to Seto's, but was flashier, in a sense, fancier, in a way. It was velvety smooth of a deep black color, the middle where it was button closed was lined with white. The sleeves reached the elbows, trimmed with purple and the collar was raised, also purple, and the tail of the coat reached the mid-way of his shins, also trimmed with the same purple. He wore a loose, mid-thigh-long, light purple shirt with a black belt around his waist with a metal buckle and his pants were tight fitting and grayish in color. To finish the outfit were mid-shin-high black boots with purple straps and lines, and white buttons and indigo soles.

Seto stared up at them, whispering, " _Kaachan*_ *... _Toukun*_ **..."

 _"How could you?"_ The woman, his Kaachan, demanded him, _"You promised us! You said you would always protect your brother Seto!"_

 _"It was bad enough you didn't even try to help us!"_ The man, his Toukun, reprimanded him, _"Now you can't save Mokuba! You failed us Seto!"_

Just to hear those last few words made something in Seto break into thousands of tiny, irrepairable pieces and it just continued to break even further as their voices kept repeating it, over and over. Mokuba's voice kept crying for help. All three voices seemed be in tempo with each other, not once did one raise to try and drown out the other two. Drowning out any other thought Seto could try to make, until he found himself falling into a pit of dark despair.

 _ **"OTOUTO****!"**_ Seto screamed in despair.

 _(Reality)_

Everyone fell silent, staring in mild surprise as they watched the normally stoic and seemingly untouchable Seto Kaiba froze, staring at his once formidable and mighty dragon. His face, once unmovable, was now stricken with shock and utter despair. He hadn't breathed so much as a word since Yami had told him his ultimately guaranteed victory.

"What's wrong with him?" Tea asked in concern, "He hasn't said anything in a while."

"Maybe its finally sunk in that he's lost?" Tristan suggested with a clueless shrug. "Maybe," Bakura agreed with a shrug, "In a moment this duel will be all over," He looked sadly at Seto, "Its actually a little sad to see a duelist of his caliber take a loss so badly, no matter how far into their career."

"But...why do I feel its more than just the duel?" Peridot questioned suddenly, to their surprise. "What do you mean, Peri?" Lapis asked confused.

"Well can all tell there's something different about how Seto's been dueling since the get-go," Peridot clarified, making them all nod, "I think he's doing this for more than just to settle a score with Yugi, I think it might have something to do with Mokuba." The other Gems' eyes widened as the teens contemplated this.

Stephanie, however, was more focused on Seto's face, whispering in surprise, "He's...he's crying..." Everyone's eyes widened in surprise and upon a more persistent and squinting look, realized she was right. Tears were running down Seto's face.

This was a very, _very **far**_ cry from the Seto Kaiba Sour Cream had sung praises and gloated about dueling in what he called 'the best duel he ever had' during the World Championships for the American Cup Junior Leagues in a hierarchical prize duel. The Seto Kaiba her big brother described was emotionally cold to his opponent, but passionate in his dueling. Sour Cream described him as strong and unmovable. This wasn't what Sour Cream described to her.

"Seto..." Maisie said softly, having never seen her master like this.

"Never thought I'd see the day," Bandit Keith murmured to himself, also shocked, "Seto Kaiba of all people, freezing."

 _'It doesn't matter what card we draw now,'_ Yami thought to Yugi as he drew. _**'Any monster we play now can defeat his dragon,'**_ Yugi replied in kind as they took in their new card. _**"This'll work,"**_ They both thought.

"This is it Kaiba!" Yami declared, "Prepare for your demise!" He launched his disc and his Celtic Guardian appeared, easing into a stance, preparing to lunge into an attack upon his master's command.

 **Celtic Guardian. ATK/DEF: 1400/1200**

"Attack Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon!" Yami ordered and Celtic Guardian lunged out of the wall of Kuriboh. "Here it comes!" Joey said in anticipation as Celtic Guardian leaped and swung his sword, slicing one of the heads clean off, making Stephanie wince, especially as she watched it sizzle as if burned and melt into a puddle.

Peridot also shivered in disgust, "Okay, maybe this is getting a little too graphic." Bismuth and Jasper just shrugged having seen worse and Lapis had no way to judging one way or another, having only been in one battle before her imprisonment and it was the one that lead up to said imprisonment and the battle itself hadn't lasted all that long.

"Alright!" Tristan and Joey, on the other hand, cheered making Stephanie wince again. "This is so cool," Tea said making Stephanie shrug.

Joey finally noticed the hybrid's unease, "Are ya okay, Steph? I thought ya said youse liked undead trope like this."

"Yeah, zombies, non-all-that-graphic rated-T for teen," Stephanie corrected, "As in, not actually seeing something start as a perfectly healthy, functioning living thing to a liquefied zombie."

"Wait a minute," Jasper said, "Why is the dragon still standing?" Everyone turned back to the field and sure enough, even though it had lost a head, the dragon remained standing, stump oozing with a more purplish sludge.

"I think its because the Ultimate Dragon is the physical manifestation of the fusion of three separate Blue Eyes White Dragons, each head having its own individual power," Bakura theorized, "Celtic Guardian took out one of them and Kaiba lost five hundred points due to the attack difference."

 **Seto LPs: 400**

"So one more attack 'n' Kaiba's done," Joey said. "And Yami wins," Lapis added with a smile as Seto closed his eyes and took a breath.

"It can't end this way," Seto finally said instantly getting everyone's attention. "Seto?" Maisie questioned hesitantly as Seto forced himself to stop crying.

 _'Someway, somehow, mama, papa...I promise you...'_ Seto swore to himself before looking Yami dead in the eyes and both Yami and Yugi gasped in shock at the utter determination suddenly staring them down, "I might not have a _card_ that can beat you Yugi, but this strategy will force your hand." Everyone stared in confusion as Seto began to slowly walk backwards.

"Is he retreatin' or somethin'?" Joey asked in confusion only to gasp and yell in shocked-alarm as Seto stepped up onto the parapet behind him. Even Bandit Keith was startled.

"What the hell are you doing?" Peridot yelled starting to run towards him, but Jasper stopped her by picking her up by the waist, "SETO KAIBA YOU GET DOWN FROM THERE RIGHT NOW!" She struggled fiercely as Seto made no move to get down from the parapet, "PUT ME DOWN!"

"SIR!" Maisie yelled buzzing and zipping around anxiously in place, clearly not sure what to do, "WHAT IN THE WIDE WIDE WORLD OF MUSIC AND DRAMA ARE YOU DOING?"

"Not until you calm down," Jasper replied. "Lapis...how quick could ya catch him if he fell?" Joey asked in a small voice, shocked by Seto's sudden move.

"From here, not quick enough," Lapis answered regretful, yet dreadfully, "I'm fast, but not that fast."

"He wouldn't..." Tea said in alarm. "Would he?" Bakura asked completely taken aback and unsure.

"Its your turn Yugi, attack if you want," Seto said carelessly, "But if you do, well, who knows, the resulting shockwave just might cause me to lose my balance," He motioned towards the group, "And you heard your little blue fairy friend, even she isn't fast enough to catch me, _**if**_ that were to happen."

" _Don't **tempt**_ me!" Yami snapped as controlled as possible, it made Stephanie shiver.

"My fate is in your hands Yugi; you'll decide this duel, one way or another," Seto said apathetically, smirking slightly at Yami, who clenched his teeth, "You wouldn't want me hurt, now would you?"

"That little snake!" Lapis said in realization. "You know Yami doesn't wanna hurt ya!" Joey frowned. "That's the point, he wants Yami and Yugi to surrender by playing to their compassion," Bismuth said remembering a few Homeworld Gems that actually used that sort of tactics, mostly Aquamarines, oddly enough.

"SETO STOP THIS RIGHT NOW!" Peridot yelled as she continued to trash about in Jasper's hold, "A DAMN CARD GAME ISN'T WORTH YOUR LIFE!"

"No one's... ** _that_** desperate...right?" Tristan said in shock.

"I'm warning you Kaiba, _don't **push**_ me too far," Yami warned stressing his words, glaring at Seto vehemently, "I must win to rescue my ojiisan*****."

"And I must rescue my _otouto_ , the difference here is that I'll risk it all to win this duel," Seto replied then said casually, "You know I could stand up here all day, because I know for certain you won't attack if it puts me at risk, even though you know that by not attacking; you lose your only chance to save your _ojiisan_ ," Yami recoiled with a worried expression, "Which means I have an advantage over you, since there's nothing holding me back."

Seto then reached into his pocket and took out, to everyone's surprise, a cartoonish, bright, sunny yellow five-pointed star pendant on a silvery necklace. Closing his eyes, he held the pendant close to his heart for a moment, before pulling it over his head and putting it in place around his neck as he said, "I made a promise too, Yugi, a promise years in the process, and as long as there's a breath in my lungs; I'm going to see that promise through, even if it kills me!" Everyone's eyes widened in shock to his sudden return of passion, but Seto was quick to regain his composure.

He then drew a new card and began his turn, "A magic card, Monster Reborn, and I'll use it to bring back the Blue Eyes head that was destroyed."

"Restore a head of the Blue Eyes?" Everyone asked in shock and watched as the middle head grew back in perfect healthy condition and at full strength of three thousand points.

"Its...its just like the Hydra..." Stephanie commented. "The what?" Joey asked thrown for a loop. "Its a Greek mythological dragon of sorts with multiply heads," Stephanie explained, "For each head cut off, two more grow back until you burn the stumps closed."

"ICK!" Tea gagged.

"Now my Blue Eyes is back to its full strength of three thousand attack points," Seto said, "This single head has enough power to wipe your Celtic Guardian out in one breath." Celtic Guardian clenched his teeth and tensed up in response as the healthy head roared at him.

 ** _'If I attack one of the weakened heads, I'll win the duel,'_** Yugi thought within his mind, very conflicted, _**'But the resulting battle might knock Kaiba off the ledge and even Lapis doesn't think she could catch him in time,"**_ He was clearly conflicted, mind searching desperately for an alternative, _**'** **There must be another way!'**_

 _'There is no other way, ojiisan is at stake,'_ Yami said regretfully, _'We must win this duel.'_

Yami's hands shook as Yugi protested, _**'I-I can't!'**_

 _'We must,'_ Yami reminded him. _'Oh Yugi...Yami...what are you going to do...?'_ Stephanie thought in sympathy, _'Seto...what is so important that you'd go this far? Did Pegasus do something to Mokuba?'_

"Kaiba I've never backed off from a challenge before and I'm not about to start now!" Yami declared before ordering, "Celtic Guardian attack!" Everyone's eyes widened in shock, Maisie screeching incoherently as she zipped about, still not sure what to do and Seto just stood there, unflinchingly.

"YAMI NO!" Tea, Peridot and Stephanie screamed, but it was the hybrid who sprinted forth, running towards the tri-haired duelist, hoping to stop him.

"You can't take this risk, call him back!" Stephanie shouted as she ran over, "This isn't you, YUGI!"

Yami and Yugi's eyes widened as the weight of what they were about to do fell into place like a free-falling pile of bricks, tears springing free as guilt and fear ran up their spine. _'She's right!'_ Yugi thought emotions running rampant, causing him and Yami to forcibly switch back before Yugi fell to his knees, screaming, "STOP!" Stephanie gasped as she skidded to a stop, tears tricking down her own face.

Celtic Guardian sighed in relief as he slowed to a stop right in front of the dragon, relieved that his master finally came to his senses.

"Couldn't do it, huh? Why am I not surprised?" Seto questioned before ordering without hesitation, "White Lightning!" With a single streaking blast, Celtic Guardian was destroyed and Yugi's life points dropped for the last time.

 **Yugi LPs: 0**

Stephanie gasped as the continued towards Yugi and quickly got in front of him, instinctively conjuring her shield, sending the resounding force around them, knocking pieces of parapet lose. Bandit Keith was startled at her apparent ability, wondering if it meant she was the same as Lapis. In a way he wasn't off. It actually gave him ideas.

"Yugi!" Stephanie cried as she dropped her shield and knelt next to him, Tea and Jasper, the quartz having put Peridot down, quick to join them as Yugi, in his emotional overload, latched onto the nearest person, making Stephanie yelp in surprise. She tensed before realizing Yugi was crying and she immediately felt her heart break as she returned the embrace, whispering sympathically, "Oh Yugi..."

"I...I almost couldn't control him..." Yugi said with clear fear in his voice, sobbing, "Yami...he was willing to...to go all the way...I'm...I'm a-afraid of...him...!" Stephanie felt tears of her own fall as she tightened her hold around him.

"I'm so sorry Yugi," Stephanie said trying and hoping to comfort him, "But a part of me likes to think your grandfather wouldn't have wanted to be saved this way."

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?" Peridot and Maisie both yelled in righteous fury, without warning, the little green Gem marched right up to the CEO and slapped him again, harder this time, of course having waited until he got down from the parapet, nearly knocking him off his feet had he not caught himself on the parapet. "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?" Peridot continued to yell, "THREATENING TO JUMP IF YUGI BASICALLY DIDN'T FORFEIT? THAT'S LOW, REALLY LOW, ESPECIALLY FOR SOMEONE WHO LIVES ON THIS MUDBALL OF A PLANET!"

"I DON'T EXPECT YOU TO UNDERSTAND!" Seto rounded back at her verbally, making everyone else jump in shock, having never heard him raise his voice like that before, "AND DON'T EVEN TRY TO JUDGE ME FOR DOING WHAT I HAVE TO!"

"TO DO WHAT EXACTLY?" Peridot demanded skeptically, "CAUSE IF THIS IS ABOUT MOKUBA, I DO GET IT YOU JACKASS!" Seto actually looked more impressed then affronted by the insult, while the teens all looked shocked that he didn't annoyed or mad.

"YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I HAD TO GO THROUGH WHEN STEPHANIE GOT CAPTURED BY THE VERY THING I CAME HERE TO GET AWAY FROM!" Peridot continued, "BESIDES, DID YOU EVER STOP TO THINK WE MIGHT CARE ABOUT MOKUBA TOO? WE SPENT MOST OF YESTERDAY LOOKING FOR HIM WHEN KEMO PEBBLENAPPED HIM!"

"And another thing," Lapis said as she walked over, carefully using her wings to pull Peridot away, "Yugi spared you, Seto Kaiba, showed you compassion, which to be quite honest is more than you deserve right now."

Seto snorted in response, "He lost the game."

"The game?" Stephanie asked in disbelief, glaring over Yugi's shoulder at the CEO, "Yugi might have won some stupid card game, but at least he didn't lose his heart; his sense of honor; his humanity; you've spent so much time around machines I think you've forgotten how to be a decent human being!" Seto rolled his eyes, having heard similar things before, "Yugi has a heart, he has us; friends who don't care if he wins or loses, what do you have at the end of the day, Seto Kaiba? Go on, tell me!"

Seto scoffed as he took back his discs, Maisie hovering over his shoulderm following after him as he walked away from them, answering dismissively, "I have all I'll ever need!"

But he was stopped by a rush of wind and blinked to see Stephanie in front of him, tears of anger swimming in her eyes as she glared up at him. Without warning, she pulled her arm back and slammed her fist into his gut, shocking everyone, even Lapis and Peridot were gaping like fish as Seto was sent flying back into a parapet from the force of her punch and left utterly winded.

"How can something so small be so strong?" Bandit Keith asked in disbelief.

"You better remember that if I hadn't snapped Yugi out of it, Lapis wouldn't be able to catch you and you'd probably be seriously injuried or worse!" Stephanie reminded him harshly as her tears fell, "Then who's suppose to rescue Mokuba?" Seto huffed in response, getting his second wind back and gingerly wiped away the trickle of blood from his mouth.

Seto said nothing and simply walked away, Maisie hovering faithfully next to him as they all watched him go.

"Nice speech, Steph," Peridot said sincerely. "Thanks Peri," The hybrid smiled weakly, feeling emotionally drained.

"Well, that was a fun way to spend the morning," Bandit Keith chuckled as he walked away as well, "Plus, its looking like trouble in paradise and smooth sailing for me to break in." He smirked wickedly, now glad Pegasus had extended the Semi-Final rounds, it gave him more time to have fun.

Meanwhile, Pegasus was once again flipping through the old book of spells that Glossaryk was still anchored to, sitting at his dining table with a glass of wine. The little spirit of the book hovered nearby, eating chocolate pudding. Croquet then walked over and handed Pegasus a phone.

"Yes?" Pegasus asked the person on the phone, "Ah Kemo, how did the duel go?" He then smirked, "I see, poor Yugi lost to Kaiba; let Kaiba into the castle, he has the Star Chips needed," He then hung up and handed the phone back to Croquet, "Little Yugi's spirit is broken and his grandfather's soul is mine forever." He smirked at the card containing Solomon Muto's soul, not at all concerned for how the background was golden and the image of the old man appeared faded. He had a good idea what it meant, as his other two captives, Gregorio Butterfly-Diaz and Mokuba Kaiba, were in identical states.

Glossaryck glanced at other two cards, eyes drawn to the man with the talltale orange music notes and sighed. This was why he hated being right all the time, the ones he actually started to like ended up in complicated situations like this.

He turned to the window and whispered, "Star...wherever you are...get here soon...your son and granddaughter both need you."

 _(A distance a way)_

At a landing strip, two figures had just climbed into a helicopter with a light pink heart over a crimson butterfly printed on the door.

The man was tall and muscular with broad shoulders, his short her was a dark brown that was beginning to gray nearest at the roots, his bangs hung on either side of his face, framing and complementing his equally dark brown eyes. He was deeply tanned, clearly latino, dressed formally in a red jacket over a black turtleneck shirt, earthy brown pants and black knee-high boots. Sitting atop his head was a golden crown with a green jewel in the center.

The woman was slightly shorter and curvy with a lean build. Her long golden blonde hair was left loose, falling past her knees to her ankles in a curtain-like effect, two longs hung down her front in neat braids, and was also starting to gray, her bright blue eyes holding a wisdom and longing as they looked out the windows. She wore an elegant pink, figure-fitting dress with lighter pink sleeves that hung off the shoulders, allowing her to show off the white gold necklace and its sweetheart-cut blue gemstone around her neck. A similar light pink silk wrapped around her hips as a white trim decorated the dress' hem, matching her shoes. Sitting atop her own head was a golden crown with a blue jewel in the center.

On the man's cheeks were a luminescent, pearly white crescent moons and on the woman's were a pair of soft peach pink hearts.

"We're taking offf, You're Majesties," The pilot informed.

The woman made no acknowledgement, prompting the man to nod instead. The woman kept her gaze out the window, before seeing the faces of two little boys and a girl in her mind's eye. One boy having brown hair and eyes like her husband and the girl was practically her double, both with their own cheekmarks, and the other boy had silvery hair.

 _'Max...Ceci...Shadow...I'll be there soon...'_ The woman thought.

* * *

 **And done! That took a little longer than I thought, but hey, can't rush, am I right?**

 **Anyways, let me know what you guys thought. Star VS left so much up in the air about magic and the Realm of Magic's capabilities, it actually gave me a bit of leeway. So, for those who are curious, New Butterfly Castle basically acts like a hub for all the Butterflies of the past for new generations to come to for advice, as long as they had the wand for a wide amount of time, they count, so that includes Dirhennia and Jushtin both count since they did have the wand for a certain amount of time. There's also another side effect that I'll get into later.**

 **Anyways, I didn't include a snipplet from Beach City cause I felt this was getting long, maybe the next one.**

 **So, tell me what you guys think of the addition to Kaiba's little meltdown, also, I'm going to be using Seto instead from now on in story, but here in the author notes, he still Kaiba. Not a lot is know about the brothers before they were adopted, so, again, I like to think I have a bit of leeway. Tell me if you find anything familiar about these two's designs.**

 **Also, three guesses who the last two new characters are. The first two don't count.**

 **Now, on to the polls:**

 **First off, should Yugi remain the King of Games or should Stephanie become Queen of Games?**

 **King: 8, Queen: 2**

 **Should Stephanie get an Egyptian God Card? However temporary:**

 **Yes: 5, No: 6**

 _ **If**_ **yes, which one?**

 **Obelisk: 2, Ra: 1, Slifer: 1**

 **So, no new votes, but hey there's still time until Battle City.**

 **As for the poll at the top of my author page, people still seem to really like the idea of Mayan God Cards. But again, lots of time before I take that down.**

 **Until next time everyone!**


	24. Chapter 24

**In fear of sounding like a broken record: I do not own Steven Universe or any of its original characters nor do I own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of its original characters, I can say, however, that I do own Stephanie, her yami, Primrose, and all OCs I chose to make, including original Crystal Beasts, i.e. Bismuth Beaver, Crystal Myths, i.e: Garnet Mother Time, and other original cards. If I _did_ own Steven Universe, trust me, things would've been a lot different and if I own Yu-Gi-Oh there would've been a way for Atem to stay and have all his memories.**

 **I'm a little embarrassed to admit I forgot to list the * notes last chapter, so I'm just going to clear up that confusion now before I get into the review replies:**

 ** _Senor*_ : Is Spanish for 'mister', just sounds like the appropriate word for Gregorio to use.**

 ** _Kaachan**_ : Is Japanese for either 'mama' or 'mommy', I'm pretty sure I saw someone use it in a Naruto fic. Since Mokuba calls Seto Aniki, it only seems right for Seto to use similar terms.**

 _ **Toukun*****_ **: Is Japanese for either 'papa' or 'daddy', also pretty sure I saw someone use it in a Naruto fic. Again, made sense for Seto to use it.**

 _ **Otouto******_ **: Is Japanese for 'little brother', this one I had to look up to make sure I was writing it right.**

 _ **Ojiisan*******_ **: Is Japanese for 'grandfather'. I can see Yugi using the more causal form of the term like 'jiji' or something like that, but I just see Yami using the more formal term of endearment.**

 **Now, on with the replies:**

 **Solartiger: I actually listened to the song after you posted and I gotta admit this song really does suit Stephanie, she wants to be independent and do things herself, even Steven never struck me as the type to wait for someone to come help him, they rescue themselves. Plus, the music sounds like something they'd listen to.**

 **LegionnaireBlaze: Grief effects different people in different ways, after all, Pearl did try to remove and ultimate kill Steven/Stephanie cause she missed Rose/Pink terribly. Baby Pink Steven, now that would've been something. Just for clarification, Cecilia is Pegasus' wife, she died of her disease sometime right after their wedding, poor guy. And yeah, you have to both admire and fear him with how far he seems willing to go.**

 **foxchick!: Happy to know you're enjoying yourself, tell me what you think of New Butterfly Castle and who is your favorite Past Queen? Mine has to be Comet, she managed to almost accomplish what Eclipsa had set out to do and it was obvious she loved Moon very dearly and would've loved Star too. And you have a point about Mayan, it isn't all that well known in comparison to the very popular Greek, Roman and Egyptian mythologies and cultures, even Norse seems to be more popular.**

 **Lady Twilight Prime: _Like_ your sense of humor, girl, I LOVE your sense of humor! It makes me grin like a loony tune every time, I think its starting to make people worry, lol. Plus, I shared one of your reviews with a friend and even she admits that your sense of humor is defiantly unique, but the good kind of unique, ususally people only do this sort of thing just for the sake of humor. And with your share on the Sun Incinerator bit, ya, you do have a point, the main story is, by default, the more interesting and important part of the whole, so I can see what you mean, its why I'm putting the Sun Incinerator and everyone on it on the back burn until the actual finals'. Glad you like the little things about the monsters, it just felt right, especially with how the whole Spirit World thing emphasizes that they are living beings and plenty of fics in the different series have them act out on their own in and out of duels. Yeah, that's actually what I was picturing when I wrote Steph's reaction to the wall of Kuriboh, and Yugi is a precious cinnamon roll, Yami has his moments, but not all that much.**

 **know what you think of my adding a cameo of Seto's real parents and you are right, when push comes to shove people can do pretty crazy things to get out of a situation, I know I have. Also, and believe me I hate this as much as you do, yeah, you're going to need a lot more than bear traps to keep Keith away. But on the bright side, Grandma Star and Grandpa Marco are on their way!**

 **silvergolddragon: I don't know if that song has already happened yet or not, narrative wise, after all, this is set right after the whole trail experience on Homeworld but just before Lapis flies off with the barn, still not sure if _that's_ still gonna happen or not.**

 **Oh and quick question before we start this since I think its kinda obvious by now this is also crossed with Star VS the Forces of Evil:**

 **How do you guys think Mewberty is going to go for Stephanie?**

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 **Now, with all that out of the way, let's move on with this chapter!**

* * *

 _(Duelist Kingdom)_

"So, you've won your duel, impressive," Kemo said as he stood at the doors into the castle as Seto approached, holding his stomach with Maisie by his side, smiling mockingly at the young CEO, "Happy to get your win back or has the excitement given you stomach problems?"

"Just let us in, you overgrown baboon," Maisie said clearly able to tell her master was in no mood for the thug. "Watch you flying cyberbug," Kemo retorted childishly, face tinging red, before demanding, "Star Chips."

Seto suddenly smirked a little, "Maisie."

The robot cackled before a little tube was ejected from her and she shot all ten Star Chips in Kemo's face, making the man yelp, startled. Seto cracked a shark-like smirk, eyes dancing with mirth as his little bot continued to cackle as she dived for the safety of his coat pocket as Kemo growled, "Why you little-!"

Seto ignored him in favor of the opening doors, striding right by the highly annoyed thug, features schooling themselves back into his usual cold demeanor, _'I'm here Mokuba, it won't be much longer now.'_

 _(Realm of Magic)_

Mokuba just finished a cookie that Comet had conjured after they had taken seats with the people in the gazebo when he suddenly sneezed, quite cutely, making Comet quietly squeal in adoration while the others, Gregorio included, all said, "Magic bless you."

As Gregorio had said, Solomon Muto had somehow been brought to this strange world, and was sitting quite calmly in his seat, sipping what smelled like raspberries and looked like tea from a delicate and extremely delicate, and expensive, looking white porcelain teacup that was decorated with different colored clouds. Despite the calmness the elderly man kept about himself, he was having a rather heavily invested conversation with one of the other figures at the table. Mokuba almost didn't recognize the man, his usual worn T-shirt and overalls replaced with a rather dark teal men's kimono*, if a little plain from the lack of patterns with a grayish-green hakama** over it. Yet the simplicity worked for him.

The woman he spoke with was pretty, but had this bookworm, almost nerdy-charm to herself and had a wise to herself that was unique. She wasn't all that tall, just a little taller than Mr. Muto himself by a few inches and was fair skinned, with waist-length, curly dark orange hair and jade green eyes that sparked behind her traditional-looking, circular-framed glasses and her cheek-marks were brown-colored infinity symbols. She wore a long, figure-flattering, flowing green dress trimmed with yellow frills. Her gold crown was less traditional looking compared to Comet's with a red diamond-shaped jewel. Her wand was the most funky looking out of all the one's present, resembling a rub-ix cube on a rod. Gregorio introduced her as his fourth great grandmother, Rhina the Riddled, the thirty-second Butterfly Queen.

Rhina and Mr. Muto were strangely bonding over the crossword puzzles placed out before them, often getting side-tracked with the random subjects that would come up as they were presented in their puzzles or with telling embarrassing grandchild stories.

To Mr. Muto's other side was was another fair-skinned woman who was actually just a few inches shorter than the man with really, really long light pink hair and purple eyes, the angle he was at caused her bangs to hide one of her eyes from him, and he could just barely see the purple crescent moon marks on her cheeks. She wore a long, figure-flattering, billowy, cloak-like robe of a dress that was a deep purple and decorated with stars and sparkles. Her gold crown had a string of pearls in place of the usual band and a red diamond-shaped jewel in the center and long strings of flowers and leaves decorated her hair. Her wand was the most interesting and convenient in Mokuba's opinion, more so then Comet's rolling pin, hers was a purple hand on a rod, decorated with golden stars and crescent moon, which she used to hide the majority of her face. Gregorio introduced her as his third great grandmother and Rhina's own daughter, Celena the Shy, the thirty-third Butterfly Queen.

The final new figure was male and tall, only shorter than Seto by barely a few inches, towering over all but Gregorio himself even when sitting down and sipping from a teacup identical to Mr. Muto's, he was as tall as the redheaded woman from before and held a beauty of his own. He had creamy-fair skin with short deep purple hair with an elaborate curl for a bang in the front, sea-foam green eyes and his cheek marks were a pair of medium purple four-leaf clovers. More flamboyant in comparison to Gregorio, he was dressed in a fancy red fur coat and a diamond studded cravat, gray pants and red heeled boots. In the place of a crown was a large red hat with a ruby in the front and large different colored feathers decorating the back, on his left hand was a gold and ruby ring and on his right wrist, a gold watch. Leaning against his chair was what Mokuba could only assume to be his wand, which was unique, even for these standards. It was a candy-cane striped walking-stick with an alligator head, the crystal centered between the two parts in the form of a red heart with pink cherubic wings. He was introduced as Gregorio's _adopted_ sixth great uncle Jushtin the Uncalculated, formerly to be the first male Butterfly to inherit as The Boy Queen, until his sister Solaria was born.

Solaria the Monster Carver, the redheaded woman who soon joined them at the gazebo upon smelling Comet's treats, who Gregorio introduced as she started cooing over Mokuba, as his _adopted_ sixth great grandmother and the twenty-eighth Butterfly Queen. The teal-haired woman was introduced, to Mokuba's surprise, as Solaria's own daughter and Gregorio's adopted aunt, Eclipsa the Queen of Darkness, who, due to some undisclosed complications was both the twenty-ninth Butterfly Queen and the thirty-eighth. It was the first time Mokuba noticed a wand design more or less be repeated as both Eclipsa and Gregorio had parasols for wands, but beyond what object they copied, that was were the similarities ended.

Mokuba was also quick to pick up that, despite her intimidating appearance, Solaria was surprisingly gentle and nice. Also that, despite her dark title, Eclipsa was really easy to get along with, really playful and joking. It helped him relax and, for a moment, he honestly forgot his situation prior to this.

"So how did our darling Shadow fine you, deary?" Eclipsa asked curiously and Mokuba immediate flinched at the memory of the creature that had chased him and how he had ended up in the strange halls for it to chase in the first place. Solaria immediately picked up on his soured mood and admonished her daughter, clearly trying not to sound too scolding, "He doesn't need to explain if he doesn't want to, Clipsy."

"Shadow saved me from a weird sludge-looking thing," Mokuba answered despite how he'd rather not remember, but knew from experience with Seto and Maisie that talking always made things better, even Seto was a hypocrite about it sometimes, "He said it used to be some lizard and told it that his parents and his grandmother said hi." He didn't fail to notice how they all, save for Gregorio himself, who simply continued to sip at his own cup of tea, and Mr. Muto, who looked confused.

"Lizard?" Mr. Muto asked confused. "Mokuba, sweetie, did Shadow call it anything in particular?" Rhina asked in a carefully tone, making Mokuba wonder why she didn't ask the male Butterfly himself. But he answered anyways after swallowing a bite of a cookie, "He called it a lizard and _dulce lagarto_."

"Was it really...?" Comet began looking at her great-grandson. "It was," Gregorio informed calmly as he looked at his tea, though his cheek marks were glowing and turning a darker orange. "Are you sure it wasn't..." Solaria prompted with a steely voice that made Mokuba shiver.

"I like to think I can tell the difference _Abuela_ Solaria," Gregorio replied calmly with a deadpanned look, "After all, between the two, only one was turned into a liquid skeleton after being blasted with raw magic." They all cringed at that, especially Mokuba, unable to believe the pretty water outside had created that creature.

"Do you have any siblings, young one?" Celena suddenly asked catching everyone by surprise. "Honestly, Celly, how you go from subject to the next never ceases to amaze me," Rhina remarked to her daughter with a soft smile of amusement, making Celena's one visible eye look away from her mother shyly. "And to be quite frank, you could time one of mother's hourglasses with how long it takes you to talk, I swear," Justhin added a little more dramatically with a good-natured grin. "Too bad we can't say the same for you, huh, bro-bro?" Solaria smirked earning a pout from him. "Don't start that again," Justhin retorted before smirking as well, "Lar-Lar." Making the redheaded war queen blush as Eclipsa giggled.

It made Mokuba smile and once again awe at the high amount of relaxation and comfort between them all, before remembering Celena's question.

"I have a big brother, Seto, and I guess you can count Maisie as a big sister...or would she technically be a little sister?" Mokuba momentarily distracted himself with that last technicality, before shrugging, "They're actually the last thing I remember before I ended up in those halls where Shadow found me," He was vaguely aware of the light squeaking of metal wheels and something rolling towards them along with two pairs of footsteps, "Seto came all the way to Pegasus' island to save me, just like he promised our parents he always would."

"Sounds like a dedicated young man," Comet complimented. "He is, even if we don't get to spend much time as we used to together," Mokuba said with a little regret on his face and in his voice as he accepted a cup of what looked like juice from Eclipsa, "I know he still loves me and I'll be seeing him soon."

Gregorio said nothing despite the look Eclipsa was giving him and simply sipped his tea.

 _(Duelist Kingdom)_

Stephanie, Yugi and the others had walked back down the stairs that led up to Pegasus' castle, but Yugi hadn't breathed a word since his defeat at the hands of Seto and it was even starting to concern the Gems. They were at the bottom steps, loitering around, trying to figure out what to do. Yugi sat at the bottom step, knees drawn into chest, a dead-look in his eyes that even worried Jasper as Stephanie sat next to him, concerned.

"Yugi, Earth to Yug'," Joey said as he leaned over and carefully snapped his fingers in Yugi's face, but the shorter boy didn't even blink or flinch, "C'mon, bud, say somethin'." He sighed at getting no response, looking over at the others in concern.

"Why won't he answer us," Tea asked in worry. "Its mostly shock from what just happened," Bakura said trying to provide insight, "I mean Kaiba did stand on the edge of the edge of the roof while baiting him to attack his weakened dragon."

"Yeah, not helping Snowdrop," Bismuth commented in a dry tone, making Bakura chuckle sheepishly. "Sorry," He apologised.

"Oh Yugi..." Stephanie whispered sadly, gently placing a hand over one of his, but Yugi only flinched away, saddening her further, "Yugi...what's bothering you?" But Yugi wouldn't look at her.

 _'What is happening to me? One moment I'm duelling Kaiba, the next I'm trying to stop Yami, who was willing to do whatever it took to win,'_ Yugi thought to himself as he cradle his puzzle, staring down at the Eye of Horus, the duel seemed to be on a permanent replay in his head, _'I can never duel again, not when there's even a chance of Yami taking over and hurting someone, especially if I have to duel Joey and Stephanie in the finals eventually, I could never live with myself if...if...'_ The image of Joey or Stephanie getting badly hurt at Yami's hands sent shivers up Yugi's spine and threatened tears.

"Miss Pink!" A familiar voice called excitedly, "Fairy Godmother!" Making everyone look to see Leon running towards them, Mai right behind him.

"Looks like you all made it," Mai remarked as Leon hugged Lapis around the legs, making her smile, "What're you doing out here? You have enough Star-Chips." She noted all three of the actual duelists had all of the slots on their gloves full.

"It's Yugi," Joey admitted first, prompting a worried look from Leon, "He lost a duel to Kaiba and now its like he's lost the will to go on."

"Mr. Muto?" Leon asked in concern as he went over to the two duelists. Yugi flinched a little as Leon got closer, prompting Leon to stop just as he reached for him. Stephanie gave Leon an attempt of a comforting smile, pulling the seven-year-old into a hug, running a hand through his hair, unable to help smiling a little as Leon leaned into the touch and returned the hug, but kept looking at Yugi in concern.

"So the little guy finally lost a duel, huh?" Mai asked before approaching Yugi, didn't so much as glance up at her, "Listen kiddo, you can't just let one loss stop you; when I lost my Star Chips, I thought it was all over," She frowned, unable to tell if Yugi had completely zoned out or not, "Hey, Earth to Yugi Muto," She gave him a nudge, but he appeared to ignore her, making her frown deeper, "Alright then." She slapped Yugi clean across the face, hard, knocking him off the step, much to everyone's shock.

"Yugi!" Stephanie and Tea said in alarm as Yugi seemed to snap out of his trance and stared up at Mai in shock. "What the he...ck!" Tristan corrected himself when Stephanie gave him a warning look.

"Grow. Up," Mai almost growled at Yugi as he held his abused cheek, "So you lost one lousy duel, now you think it's all over," She scoffed, disappointment crossing her face, making Yugi flinch, "Maybe you should just go home and cry like the little baby you are."

"That's mean Queenie!" Leon frowned at her. "Going to run to your 'fairy godmother'?" Mai rebuffed sarcastically.

"You're not being fair Mai!" Stephanie said in Yugi's defence, "You don't even know the full story!"

"I don't need it; it looks perfectly clear to me," Mai replied with a huff, earning a dirty glare from the Gems, who were all barely able to restrain themselves from lashing at her, "Your little boyfriend here has lost the will to keep duelling."

Stephanie and Yugi both blushed darkly at being assumed to be in a relationship, which did little to ease the tension. "First, he's not my boyfriend," Stephanie said trying to keep as calm as possible, "Second, you don't even know what dirty tricks Kaiba pulled on him!"

"Again, its looking like I don't need to," Mai shrugged, "Maybe after his first duel against Kaiba, he thought he was invincible," She then glared down at Yugi, "Well, I've got news for you, all of you, no matter how good you are, there'll always be someone who duels better than you," She sighed and gave Stephanie a strained smile, "Its a lesson I had to learn the hard way."

Stephanie returned the strained smile with one of her own, remembering their own duel, flushing a bit as she did. Remembering her peculiar behaviour during it. She always knew she was strong, but she never knew just how strong until that moment when she nearly uprooted that tree just from chucking a piece of metal. Heck, she can't remember the last time she was ever that violent before, if she ever was at all. She just felt a blinding white hot rage at hearing her first non Crystal Gem, Gem friend being talked down to like she was lower then the ants on the ground and just...she snapped. It scared her a little and suddenly, she could understand better how Yugi felt about Yami. If Mai hadn't had ducked, Primrose might've decapitated her!

Still, it was nice to know the duel had helped her humble a bit. In Mai's own unique way.

"That's enough!" Lapis finally snapped stomping between Mai and the two shorter duelists, "I've just about had it with you and your attitude! I honestly thought Jasper saving your sorry hide from Panick and getting eliminated would've made you a little nicer, but clearly I was wrong!"

Mai flinched a bit at the reminder of Panick, as did Stephanie, remembering the state she had purposely left him in, but got girls shook it off. There was no use in dwelling on the past.

"You sure this has nothing to do with what I said about you and Wheeler?" Mai asked smirking, which got worse as Lapis turned a dangerous shade of purple upon realising what she was talking about. "Huh? What about me?" Joey asked confused, making Tristan, Tea, Bakura and, surprisingly, Peridot to snicker.

"Nothing!" Lapis replied insistently, glaring at the laughing four, daring them to say something, making Tea, Tristan and Bakura mime zipping their lips shut, while Peridot just shrugged, before Lapis returned to glaring at Mai, "I'll duel you right here, right now!"

"HUH?" Everyone gaped in surprise. "Did she just say what I think she just said?" Joey asked ringing out his ear, "Or do I have a wax-build-up in my ears?"

"Oh you heard me," Lapis said summoning her deck from her gemstone, holding it up with a serious expression, "Come on Mai, your harpies VS my mermails."

"Are you sure Lapis?" Stephanie asked unsurely, "I could duel Mai again."

"No, I want to do this Steph," Lapis assured with a smile, "Besides, if you can do it, I can do it." Stephanie still seemed a bit unsure, but smiled encouragingly and gave a little nod. "Yay!" Leon cheered, "Fairy Godmother is going to duel!" Everyone, even Yugi despite his depressing mode, couldn't help smiling a bit at the boy's happy charm.

"Hmm, Harpy VS Mermail, huh? You have me interest," Mai admitted before smirking, "Alright, fine, I need a warm-up before I get into that castle anyways." She motioned for them to follow to a nearby duel arena, which they did, Stephanie not hesitating to pick up Leon, who didn't protest to being carried.

"Do you think Lapis can win against Mai?" Tristan asked curiously. "If she can beat the likes of those rhyming clods, she can handle Mai," Peridot assured as Mai and Lapis took their places, Mai in the red console and Lapis in the blue one.

"But that was a tag-team duel," Bismuth pointed out, "She doesn't have me or Fairy Dragon to form Aqua Dragon again."

"True, but Lapis is stronger than she looks," Jasper rebuffed in her fusion partner's defence, "She might not need fusion."

"Plus, she's just awesome in general," Joey agreed with Jasper, who nodded in agreement, "Lapis has this in the bag."

"Miss Pink, do you think Lapis can win against Queenie?" Leon asked looking up at the dual-haired hybrid. "I honestly don't know, but I'm not about to stop her either way," Stephanie answered honestly, glancing at Yugi, "Besides, maybe this is something Yugi needs to see." Leon glanced at the other male duelist before returning his attention to the arena.

"Time to duel!" Lapis shouted as Mai smirked and their life points were set.

 **Lapis LPs: 2000**

 **Mai LPs: 2000**

Both female duelists drew their first five cards, Lapis drawing a sixth. Lapis examined her options, before saying, "Okay Mai, I'm playing Mermail Abyssdine in attack mode!" She played a card and a new mermail appeared.

Like Abyssturge, she had a fish tail in place of a legs, but otherwise looked human. Unlike Abyssturge, who was a matured young woman, Abyssdine looked to be about Leon's age with waist-long light pink hair, fair skin and big, deep teal eyes. She wore a blue headband with a harp-like symbol on it, her slightly darker blue top was strapless and her tail was a dark blue. Also unlike Abyssturge, she didn't have a weapon, instead she wore long pieces of sheer blue fabric from her blue metal wristbands.

 **Mermail Abyssdine. Attribute: WATER. Tribe: AQUA/EFFECT. Lv: 3. ATK/DEF: 1000/200**

"What the heck is that?" Tristan, Joey, Jasper, Bismuth and Peridot all shouted in shock that Lapis would play a monster that she most likely knew was weaker than Mai's most known monster. "Lapis this isn't the time to be playing around!" Peridot yelled jumping in the air and flailing her limbs, making Abyssdine giggle at her antics.

Leon, however, stared up at the mermaid with wide, awe-filled eyes, "She's really pretty..." Abyssdine, having heard this, blushed bashfully, more used to being called cute, before winking playfully at Leon, making him blush darkly, much to Stephanie's amusement.

"Hmm, I'll summon Harpy Lady in Attack Mode," Mai said and her redheaded winged-beast appeared with a screech that prompted Abyssdine to cover her ears with a wince of pain, "I'll lay down this card face down," Mai then pointed at Abyssdine, "Now attack!"

"Abyssdine!" Lapis yelped as Harpy Lady swooped down on her youngest Mermail, who tried lifted her arms in attempt of defence, but was destroyed anyway with a kick to the abdomen with Harpy Lady's sharp talons. Lapis grinted her teeth as her life points dropped, _'Damn it, I got so mad at Mai I forgot her main monster is stronger than Abyssdine by three hundred attack points! Nice going Lazuli...'_

 **Lapis LPs: 1700**

"What was that?" Peridot said in disbelief, "Lapis already knows Mai's Harpies have over a thousand attack points, why would she summon Abyssdine without support?"

"I guess Mai just got her so mad she forgot?" Bakura shrugged. "What did Mai say about me that would get Lapis that upset?" Joey asked confused, making Peridot sigh and shake her head as Tea and Tristan shared a look.

"Ready to call it quits yet?" Mai asked. "No way!" Lapis instantly refused, "I'm in this to win it!" She drew a new card and summoned a new monster, "Mermail Abyssgunde!"

Another mermaid appeared, this one being a mature beauty like Abyssturge, but with a different overall appearance right down to her tail design. She had ridiculously short raven black hair cut in a pixie-esque style with bluish shell-style clips right over her ears, which were orange and fin-like. Like her sisters before her, she wore an armoured, strapless top of a bluish color, only hers had a black metal bead belt above her hips, matching ones on the armour segments that ran down her tail, which was orange and styled similarly to a clown-fish, right down to the tail-fin and the matching little fins on her wristbands. To complete her look was a long, simple black scarf wrapped around her neck and like Abyssdine, she was weaponless.

 **Mermail Abyssgunde. Attribute: WATER. Tribe: AQUA/EFFECT. Lv: 3. ATK/DEF: 1400/800**

"Now _that's_ more like it!" Tristan stated with an anticipating grin. "You're really obsessed with the water, huh?" Mai remarked in amusement, making Lapis glower at her, before returning her attention to her remaining five cards cards, trying to ease her temper wen she spied a trap card.

 _'Waboku? I remember this one from the boat ride; Steph said it was a really powerful trap card,'_ Lapis thought in contemplation, frowning in frustration as she hit a mind block, _'But for the love of the stars above I can't remember exactly what it does, ah asteroids, lets hope I can remember before I actually need it,'_ Shaking her head, she placed Waboku face down, saying aloud, "And I play this as well, face down." Mai arched a brow.

"Finally, support," Stephanie sighed in relief. "It maybe a rocky start, but she can turn it around, Abyssgunde isn't all that high, but they're higher than Mai's dam-" He yelped when Stephanie suddenly kicked him from behind, toes digging painfully before he was sent flying forward, tumbling head over heel before hitting, quite literally, butt first and legs up against the arena wall, making everyone else cringe at the loud bong sound the collision made.

"What...was...that...for...?" Joey got out through the pain as his legs slacked. "What did I say about cursing in front of innocent children?" Stephanie asked in a rather calm voice as she suddenly stood over Joey, eyes closed with a smile as she continued to hold Leon, who stared down at Joey curiously, yet despite her calm and sweet demeanor, she was giving off a cold aura that had Joey sweating bullets and sweat-dropping nervously.

Forgetting about the pain, Joey immediately flipped around into a kneeling position, bowing repeatedly to the hybrid, whilst repeating, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Making everyone, even Yugi, sweat-drop, mentally noting to never get on Stephanie's bad side.

In the observation room, Sapphire and Ruby were giggling like mad while Amethyst looked very freaked out at the display. What could they say, they taught their Little Quartz well when it came to taming less desirable traits. Besides, if Stephanie really wanted to hurt him, Joey would've gone straight through the one wall and out the other.

"You okay Joey?" Lapis asked in concern as she and Abyssgunde, even Harpy Lady craned and leaned to see if he was still one functioning piece. Joey yelped in surprise, shooting his feet, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, "Fine! I'm fine!"

"Alright..." Lapis said unsurely, but returned her focus to the duel as Abyssgunde did the same with Harpy Lady, "Abyssgunde attack! Aqua Blade!"

Abyssgunde smirked as she rose her arms in an 'X' cross pattern, before bubbling water frothed around her wristbands as her fins glowed white. The water then gushed out, forming fin-like blades. She then rushed at Harpy Lady, aiming for joins, particularly the wings. Imagine their shock when Harpy Lady turned and caught a startled Abyssgunde by her arms, the redheaded monster smirked as the short-haired mermaid glowered at her.

"What the-?" Lapis said in confusion, "My Mermail is stronger than your Harpy..."

"Sorry hon, but you forgot about my face down," Mai supplied as she flipped over her face-down, "I just activated it now, the Rose Whip is a personal favorite of mine; it raises my Harpy's attack and defense points by three hundred each, protecting her from your little fish."

"Uh oh," Lapis cringed in realization as Harpy Lady kicked Abyssgunde in the stomach to shove her away. Harpy Lady then raised a hand as a long, thorny whip materialized in her hand, cracking it to the side, making Stephanie flinch, instantly reminded of Holly Blue Agate from the whole zoo fiasco.

 **Harpy Lady. ATK/DEF: 1600/1700**

Harpy Lady smirked and swung her whip at Abyssgunde, who rose her water blades in an attempt of defense but was destroyed after a few strikes.

 **Lapis: 1500**

"Clever move," Bakura commented stroking his chin in thought, "Mai tricked Lapis into thinking her mermaid was stronger."

"Are you seriously praising the enemy?" Jasper asked in disbelief, making him chuckle sheepishly. "So not the time Snowdrop," Bismuth remarked.

"I think its time for you to call it quits sweetie," Mai told Lapis, "If you knew what you were up against, you'd do that right now."

"No!" Lapis refused, "Yugi didn't quite on my when Bismuth and I dueled those brothers, so I'm not going to let him down now!"

"Oh please don't start a friendship rant, I've heard the speeches already, and I think Yugi has too," Mai said glancing to see Yugi was still avoiding everyone's eyes, the dead looking in them sent a shiver up her spine, but she shook it off and focused, "You're about to learn the hard way just because luck was in favor of one Rookie, it doesn't rule that way for all of them," She drew her next card and hummed in thought, _'Harpy's Feather Duster,'_ She then placed it face-down on the console, saying aloud, "I play this card face-down and end my turn."

 _'Another face-down huh? That makes it hard to call what to do next,'_ Lapis thought before drawing and her eyes widened in surprise to see it was her favorite monster, one of her non-Mermail monsters, _'Aqua Spirit,'_ Stephanie couldn't help smiling a little as she gazed at her card, _'You know, I never told anyone why your my favorite; for some reason, whenever I look at you, I can just sense pieces of my group in you, even my new friends I can see little pieces of what makes them all so strong; Joey's courage, Tristan's encouraging spirit, Tea's compassion, Jasper's strength, Peri's determination, Bismuth's confidence, Stephanie's kindness, Yugi's heart, even Bakura's knowledge and Leon's innocence...'_

"You can do this Lapis!" Joey cheered for her as she looked over at them, "We're all right here with ya!"

"Yugi...are you with me too?" Lapis asked carefully, tone small making Yugi finally look up to meet her eyes with a gasp of surprise, "Maybe this card will show you how strong a bond can really be; for the cost of Abyssdine in my graveyard, I summon Aqua Spirit in attack mode!" Everyone's eyes widened in surprise at the mention of her favorite monster as a ghost off whitish-blue transparent silhouette rose up from the ground and with gentle twirls, slowly turned solid as it revealed itself.

Her monster resembled a young water nymph girl, just a little older than Abyssdine with an aqua-green hue to her skin and chin-length, pixie-cut navy blue hair and sliver gray eyes, having fin-like ears on her head to fit in with her Mermail comrades despite having human legs instead of a fishtail. She was dressed in a short-sleeved cloudy-sky blue nightgown-like dress, the collar trimmed with a whiter lace and a pair of indigo gloves on her hands. Embedded into her chest was a deep blue gemstone and hanging from her head was a greenish blue veil.

 **Aqua Spirit. Attribute: WATER. Tribe: AQUA/EFFECT. Lv: 4. ATK/DEF: 1600/1200**

"You kept me waiting for another water-tyke?" Mai asked unimpressed, earning a pouty-glare and huff from Aqua Spirit, "Well, my turn! Harpy Lady, attack!" Harpy Lady smirked as Aqua Spirit glared and cracked her whip.

"Not so fast Mai, I play my trap card Waboku!" Lapis said flipping her card and three hooded women appeared between the two monsters, taking the hit instead of Aqua Spirit, who flinched a little, "This card turns all battle damage to zero and leaves my spirit untouched!"

"Yes!" Joey fist pumped. "Go Fairy Godmother!" Leon cheered throwing his arms up happily, making Stephanie laugh.

"So you used a trap card, so what? You're not going to win just because you remembered one of the rules," Mai remarked still unimpressed, "I don't think you can even beat my Harpy Lady."

"Oh yeah?" Lapis asked with narrowed eyes, "I'm playing a monster face-down in defense mode and then I use the spell card Aqua Jet, to increase Aqua Spirit's power by a thousand!"

"A thousand!" The others exclaimed in surprise, even Mai was a bit startled as a jet-pack materialized on Aqua Spirit's back, as the propellers turned streams of water and bubbles sputtered forth. Aqua Spirit smirked as she felt her power grow and morph the jet-pack more to her liking, turning more icy and fin-like in design.

 **Aqua Spirit. ATK/DEF: 2600/1200**

"Well, its not like I can't use magic cards too," Mai said off-handedly, "I use Cyber Shield to increase my Harpy Lady's attack points by another five hundred."

Harpy Lady grinned viciously as her metal armor took form once more, increasing her own power.

 **Harpy Lady. ATK/DEF: 2100/1700**

"I'll also use the magic card De-Spell to de-accessorize your spirit," Mai continued revealing a familiar spell card, making everyone gasp in shock.

"Wait, didn't Kaiba have that card?" Tristan said with wide eyes, Yugi tensed, remembering Seto using that exact magic card.

Aqua Spirit cringed as her jet-pack was destroyed, shivering as her power dropped back to normal.

 **Aqua Spirit. ATK/DEF: 1600/1200**

"Not good," Peridot winced. "Hang in there Lapis, thin's about tah get a bit rough," Joey warned.

"Now I'll finish off your face-down monster to stop you from having any more chances of thinking you can win," Mai said as Harpy Lady brought her arm with the whip back, preparing to strike as Lapis' face-down revealed itself.

It was a tall human male dressed in a red Arabian outfit with a black under shirt, a purple silk belt around his waist, pinned in place with a gold clip, matching the ones holding the purple veil in place over his lower face and the pins on his long blackish-purple cloak. Sitting atop his head, with all his hair tucked in, was a matching red and purple turban with a lavender feather attached to it. He was knelt down on one knee, one arm resting over his raised knee and the other was raised up in front of him, palm facing up as a crystal of shorts hovered over it in a strange setting with two smaller ones on either side.

 **Crystal Seer. Attribute: WATER. Tribe: SPELLCASTER/FLIP/EFFECT. Lv: 1. ATK/DEF: 100/100**

Crystal Seer raised up his hands, controlling his crystal weapon telepathically as it glowed, starting to create a shield, but it was smacked to the ground and broken into pieces from a crack of Harpy Lady's whip. With another two lashes, Crystal Seer was destroyed.

"Hey, doesn't Crystal Seer have an ability that lets you see the top two cards on your deck and you can keep one but send the other to the bottom of the deck?" Stephanie asked making Lapis blink in surprise, thinking it over before smiling as she picked up the top two cards of her deck, Mai just sighed.

"Honestly, how do you hope to win if don't even know the rules?" Mai questioned, "You're lucky you're little pink friend, whatever her actual name is, knew you could do that, else you'd look even more like an idiot."

"Hey, cut me a break!" Lapis snapped back in response, "I literally didn't even know the game existed until the day before yesterday and I _just_ played my first duel **_today_**!"

"Look, everyone's impressed that you lasted this long," Mai told her, "But you're just delaying the inevitable."

"I refuse to give up!" Lapis replied making Yugi gasp, "I didn't give up on one day being free from that blasted prison and I'm not going to start now!"

"Come on, enough with trying to help your friend; Yugi's already given up on himself, you need to stop fighting for him!" Mai said as Yugi looked at her again briefly, before looking down at his feet again, "He needs to learn to fight his battles for himself, and whatever is going on through his head, he has to deal with it himself."

 _'Maybe Mai's right...maybe I have to fight harder,'_ Yugi thought to himself, _'I gave up too easily...but how can I fight Yami when he can take over at any second and doesn't have any sense of limit?'_

 _'Damn, as much as I hate to admit it, she does have a point,'_ Jasper thought to herself, looking at her hand, _'Sometimes the best way to heal is being forced to face it by yourself...'_ She clenched her hand in frustration as little fleck-like spots of teal began to form on the same hand.

"Face it, Lapis, this whole duel is pointless; Yugi's not interested in this match," Mai told the blue Gem, "He's given up on himself and he's given up on you."

"You're wrong and I'm going to prove it," Lapis frowned at her, "I don't care if you have more experience at Duel Monsters or if the odds are stacked against me, I won't quit; I refuse to quit; that isn't my Gem way." It took Stephanie and Peridot a moment to realize she was quoting the main character from the newest anime they were binge-watching before all this started and started to grin and chuckle, especially at the confused looks on Jasper and Bismuth's faces.

"Lapis..." Stephanie heard Yugi whisper. She glanced at him, smiling softly, "Feeling better?" Yugi looked at her shyly with a little nod and a weak smile. The both of them were startled when Leon let out a cheer launching himself at Yugi, happy he was feeling better, the two older duelists shared a look and chuckled as Yugi returned the hug.

Lapis also smiled at seeing this, growing more determined to win, "I'm going to win this duel Mai!" She then revealed the card she had kept from her Seer's ability, "First, I play Kione's Gift to increase Aqua Spirit's attack power!" Aqua Spirit shivered as the woman from the previous duel merged with her, turning her colors paler, dress gaining slightly longer bell-sleeves from the change as her jewel turned a more sky shade of blue.

 **Aqua Spirit. ATK/DEF: 2300/1200**

"Next I play another card Black Pendant!" Lapis said playing another equip card, causing a dark indigo jewel placed in a gold pendant appeared, hanging from a beaded necklace around Aqua Spirit's neck, "To increase her attack power by another five hundred!"

 **Aqua Spirit. ATK/DEF: 2800/1200**

"Almost three thousand attack points!" Tristan gaped. "And I'm not done," Lapis said revealing a card that made everyone gasp in shock, "De-Spell works on you two, right Mai?" Mai paled as Aqua Spirit smirked blasting a freezing wind at Harpy Lady, who shrieked as her Cyber Armor turned to ice before shattering into pieces.

 **Harpy Lady. ATK/DEF: 1600/1700**

"Go Lapis!" Stephanie, Bismuth and Peridot cheered.

"Aqua Spirit attack with Glacier Storm!" Lapis ordered as Aqua Spirit's jewel glowed with power.

Aqua Spirit's smirk widened as she willed moister from the air to freeze in her hands. She shot her arms forward and pelted Harpy Lady with sharp shards of ice, until they pierced skin, making the redheaded monster shriek in pain before vanishing from the field.

 **Mai LPs: 800**

"What a shot!" Joey shouted with a grin as he held up a banner that had Lapis' face and gemstone on it that he pulled out from somewhere. "I don't even want to know where you got that," Tristan commented. "I do, you don't have a gemstone!" Peridot said a little freaked out, "How'd you do that?"

"More than half her life points in just one shot!" Stephanie grinned widely. "Nice one Lazuli!" Bismuth added making the sea Gem beam and Aqua Spirit beam.

 _'I almost forgot, my Harpy's Feather Duster could win it for me,'_ Mai thought looking down at her face-down, before sighing as she left it face-down, "I surrender Lapis Lazuli, I don't have the cards to win." Everyone stared at her in shock.

"Giving up just like that?" Lapis said in surprise. "Don't go rubbing it in, alright?" Mai huffed, "Harpy Lady was the best monster I had and you beat her, there's no point in my going on."

"Even if it doesn't really feel good, win or lose?" Lapis asked making Mai shrug as the platforms lowered, allowing them off.

"Surrender or not, you were great Lapis!" Joey encouraged her as he pulled her into a celebratory hug, making her yelp in surprise, before smiling bashfully as she returned it, much to everyone else's amusement. "He's right you know, sometimes surrender is just better than a humiliating defeat," Stephanie pointed out and Lapis couldn't deny the point.

Stephanie then put Leon down and grabbed Yugi's hand, much to his surprise as his face heated up in a blush, "Actually, before we head to the castle, can me and Yugi have a moment to talk privately?" She didn't seem to realize how that sounded, though it did make Yugi blush darker as the ideas ran through his head.

Tristan, Tea, Mai and Joey seemed to have similar ideas about what she wanted to talk about as well, judging from the smirks on their faces. "Go ahead, there's no one felt but us, so there's really no rush," Mai assured and couldn't help blushing a bit herself when Stephanie gave her a smile worthy of the sun as the others nodded along.

"Be right back," Stephanie replied as she pulled Yugi along into the bush. "Muto really is a lucky duck," Mai muttered shaking the heat from her cheeks. "What was that Mai?" Joey asked arms still around a blushing Lapis. "Nothing," Mai said before turning her smirk on him, "How long have you and Lazuli been together, though?"

Joey finally realized he was still hugging Lapis and blushed furiously as he quickly let go of her as if burned. "So-sorry!" He apologized missing her slightly disappointed expression. "Its fine, really," Lapis assured face resembling a plum from how dark her blush was turning it as Tea and Tristan snickered.

"What's with them?" Leon asked an equally confused Bakura, who just shrugged.

Meanwhile, Stephanie stopped when they were out of ear-shot and turned to Yugi, who was still flushing nervously.

"Is...is there something...something wrong...Steph...?" Yugi managed to get out, both oblivious to how Yami and Primrose were watching from nearby trees, both spirits smirking in amusement. "I...I want to talk to Yami," Stephanie said much to the three's shock, Yami actually falling over, briefly catching Primrose's attention.

"I...oh..." Yugi said unsurely and a little disappointed. "Okay, that came out wrong," Stephanie back-tracked, "Yugi, you know you aren't to blame for what happened with Kaiba, right?" Yugi flinched slightly and looked away, but Stephanie wasn't having it this time, she let go of his wrist to gently cup his cheek, making him gasp in surprise as she turned his head to make him look at her, "I mean it Yugi, in retrospect, its just like the Shadow Duel with Bakura; the only one to blame is Yami, not you." Yami winced a bit at the comparison and looked down in shame as Primrose gave him a pointed look, as if daring him to protest.

"When you put it like that, I guess you have a point but..." Yugi said uncertainly, a worried look in his eyes, "How am I suppose to duel again when he can take control at any moment? How am I suppose to trust him not to go to such extremes again? What if he hurts you!" He bit his lip with wide eyes at the slip and quickly adds at her wide-eyed look, "O-Or Joey! I'll have to face one of you at some point; I...I don't think I can stand it if he goes that far; what I won't be able to stop him again?"

Yami looked up with wide, tear-stinging eyes, stunned. Did he really scare Yugi that badly? He'd never hurt one of their friends; especially not their _Hime_ , but seeing how silent he had been since the duel with Kaiba, he can see how Yugi's active mind could jump to such conclusion without any attempts to dis-sway them on his part.

"You know, my dad has a saying," Stephanie suddenly said with a fond smile as she thought of her father, much to Yugi's surprise, "He'd always say, 'if every pork chop was perfect; we wouldn't have hotdogs'," She giggled as along with Primrose as Yugi just stared at her oddly for the phrase, "I basically means if we focus on one thing too long, we lose sight of other things, better things," She lifted her other hand to press gently on his other cheek, smiling softly, now the both of them were flushing, "No one's perfect Yugi; not you, not me, not Yami; no one. You're never going to know the answers to any of that unless you try."

Amethyst continued to stare into dark caramel as impossible soft thumbs rubbed soothingly circles into his cheeks. Unable to help himself, Yugi raised a hand and clasped against one of her hands, leaning into it. He smiled in return as a gold light filled the little area they had stopped to talk.

Blood red eyes opened to softly smile down into dark caramel as Yami gently grasped the hands on his cheeks, bringing them up to his mouth to press a very gentle kiss to the back of her knuckles, making her blush deeply at the intimate action. And stars did she get a shiver as his rumble of a baritone voice seemed to vibrate through her hands to the rest of her as he greeted her tone soft, "Hello, _Hime_."

"Hello...Yami..." She greeted in kind, unable to help the nervousness that kept her nerves a light. Primrose smiled softly shaking her head before vanishing back into the earrings.

"I understand if you have a few...choice things, you'd like to say to me," Yami said carefully, trying to mask how unhappy the idea of Stephanie being even remotely upset with him made him, but he begrudgingly accepted that after his performance against Kaiba, he couldn't hold it against her, "And I'm not going to hold it against you, so please, by all means, let it out."

Stephanie took a breath, both to steel her nerve and to calm them, before speaking, "I just want to know what was going through your damn head," Yami was taken aback by her sudden cursing, "I just want to understand what possessed you to be willing to go such an extreme, if you just held out a little longer, Lapis could've recovered from the shock quick enough to get behind him and be able to catch him!" She then thought on it before sighing as she added, "And if she couldn't, worse comes to shove, I would've been able to heal him."

"You don't know that _Hime_ ," Yami rebuffed unintentionally avoiding the question, "Despite what we'd both probably like to believe, I'm pretty certain there's a limit to what your...healing saliva can do..."

Stephanie winced, internally debating whether or not to tell him about Lars and what her tears can do, but chickened out. Instead she focused, hands balling into fists, making Yami cringe, remembering how she had punched Seto and kicked Joey, relaxing only slightly when she instead put them on her hips, instead of preparing for a punch, "That isn't an explanation, ya know."

He couldn't help the small chuckle despite his prior concern or the reason for this chat. "I'm honestly not sure how to explain it, all I know is that react quite poorly to even remotely being called a coward," Yami finally answered her, pinching the bridge of his nose as he thought on it, "I hadn't backed down since Yugi put the puzzle together, not to the thug that tried to beat him, Joey and Tristan senseless, not to a petty thief that went after Tea and especially not to Kaiba, irregardless of the circumstances."

Stephanie listened to his explanation and, in a way, hearing how he put, she supposed one couldn't entirely hold it against him for lashing out from a physiological stand point. She was no doctor like Connie's mother, but she knew no one liked to be called things like 'coward' and knew enough about individuality to know everyone reacted to these seemingly trivial things differently.

"Then its good to know the lesson here is acknowledged and hopefully it won't be repeated again, right?" Stephanie smiled much to his surprise. "That's it?" He questioned stunned, "Just acknowledge and hope I don't go to far again?" He was honestly expecting her to at least shout at him, maybe even hit him, not completely for-go the lashing and reacting to his misdeeds all together.

"Well, the way I see it, what good is telling you what you already know going to do?" Stephanie replied making him blink, not expecting such an answer, "Besides, _are_ you going to go that far again?" He shook his head and she smiled, "Well, there you go!" She then offered a hand to him, "So, ready to go save your grandpa now?"

Yami blinked at her for a moment, before smiling gratefully at her, before taking her hand, replying in a more confident voice, "And to save your family." She nodded confidently before walking back to the group, both hearts feeling much lighter, more ready for whatever was waiting for them in the castle.

 _(Beach City)_

Connie groaned as she began to come to, whatever had hit her sure knew how to hit hard. Did someone strike her with a rock or a boulder? Her vision was swimming with black dots and blurs as she opened her eyes. Her ears rung slightly as a bunch of voices all spoke, but it was like she was underwater, she couldn't make out any words.

"Hey, I think she's coming to!" A familiar voice suddenly said through her haze, its closer proximity allowing her to hear it above the others and more clearly as she blinked her vision clean, "Connie? Connie!" She shook her head and found herself looking up at a very concerned Mr. Pizza, "Are you okay? You got a nasty bump there!"

Then, everything came crashing down on her. Her mother asking her to find Sour Cream to find out if those strange cheek marks were normal. Finding the older kids all dressed in strange outfits she's never seen before. All of them had...gemstones.

"Gems!" Connie cried, "They're Gems!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, there, you're going to hurt yourself worse!" Sour Cream said from her other side as hands pressed down on her shoulders to keep her from making her dizziness worse, "Who's Gems? The thugs?"

Connie turned, prepared to shout at him, only for her voice to die in her throat in shock. No strange Anime-inspired or Power Ranger-ripoff outfit. Sour Cream was back in his thick, dark purple cotton pajamas. A quick glance revealed all the other older kids were all back in their normal clothes of pajamas or tanks and sweats, all watching her in concern. Not a gemstone in sight.

Did she dream the whole thing?

"Are you okay Connie?" Jenny asked in concern as she pressed what felt like an ice compact to the growing goose egg of a bump on her head, "That thug really hit you hard."

"A thug got on the ship?" Ronaldo freaked out and Connie finally realized she was back in the room Rhodonite had brought them to in case trouble got into the ship. "Not for long," Kevin smirked, "Lars got rid of 'em pretty quick."

Connie finally realized said space pirate captain was watching from across the room, arms crossed as he leaned against the wall, a calm, but calculated cold expression on his face that had her reeling. What happened up in space could've changed Lars so badly? This is the complete opposite of the antsy high-schooler she remembered or the vibrant space pirate she remembered from the Jungle Moon incident.

"I thought..." She started before rubbing her head, wincing when her fingers brushed the forming bruise where she got knocked out, she thought better of it, she had met all of the older kids' families and while Kevin's mother was out of the picture, Jenny and Kiki's mother was also gone, as was Buck's, she had seen the pictures in family albums, they were all human, perfectly human. There was no logical or sensible way for any of the young adults to be hybrids.

"I guess you must be having Gems on the brain," Buck chuckled in amusement, "Can't say I blame you with everything that's been happening and worrying about Steph and the Crystal Gems." Connie found herself nodding in agreement as Buck gently rubbed her head, soothing the pain. Had his voice always been this calming?

"We better hurry," Lars suddenly said as he walked over, making Connie blink, "Fluorite's Peridot was able to finally hook the Sun Incinerator's control signal to the network Pegasus is using to spy on us and managed to back-hack it so we can return the favor."

"And that means we'll be able to watch the finals!" Jamie added with a big, excited smile from where he was holding onto one of Kevin's arms, "We'll be able to see how Steph's doing!" Lars nodded in agreement with a goofy grin on his face, making Connie wonder if she imagined the cold expression from before.

"That's great!" Peedee grinned. "Agreed, I've always wanted to see a real Duel Monsters tournament in live-action!" His brother agreed just as excited.

"Are you sure you okay dear?" Connie's Mother asked worriedly, prompting a slow nod from her. "How's Mr. Universe?" Connie asked back, making her mother sigh.

"Nothing's changed, I fear," Her mother answered glancing over to where her sole patient was lying as still as ever, "Save for those strange marks on his cheeks; they've stopped glowing."

"Oh," Connie replied before allowing Onion to act as a crutch for her to lean on as she went to follow everyone to watch the finals.

 _(A distance from Duelist Kingdom)_

Within the helicopter, the man and woman were watching the world go by as they flew above the ocean. The man's attention was drawn to the deep blue surface was a pod of dolphins broke the surface, leaping and bounding, as if trying to keep up with the helicopter.

"Honey, look," He coaxed gently, touching her hand to get her attention, "I think a pod of dolphins are trying to race the helicopter."

"What?" She jerked out of thoughts, "Where?" She practically climbed on top of him getting to the window to see for herself, making him stammer in protest.

"Star, I'm over sixty years old, I'm not actually sturdy for you to be climbing on anymore," He complained/scolded lightly, adjusting his crown after she knocked lopsided. "Aw," She gave a little smile as she spied the pod below, "Ceci would've loved to see this..." Her smile fell, sorrow filling her face, "Shadow too..."

The man sighed before pulling his wife into a soft hug as tears started to fall from her eyes, "I know...I miss them too..." He gently brushed the tears from her eyes, giving her a hopeful smile, "Maybe Max invited Shadow too."

She couldn't help the small, hopeful smile as well, though it looked more pained, "But what if he won't want to talk to me? The things I said...what I've done..."

"Hey, you're his mother," Her husband gently reminded her titling up and she met him halfway with a more warm and genuine smile as their foreheads met, their cheek marks giving the softest glow, "No matter happens or how much time passes, he's always going to love you; you know that." She shook slightly as she nodded in response.

"You're Majesties," The pilot suddenly said, getting their attention, "We're almost at Duelist Kingdom."

"Very good," The man replied, "Let them know of our arrival." The pilot nodded as the woman took her proper seat again, but this time leaned against her husband, who wrapped an arm comfortingly around.

 _(The Realm of Magic)_

Gregorio smiled as Mokuba laughed at one of Jushtin's jokes before glancing down into his nearly empty teacup, seeing the people approaching the island in the helicopter in the hot liquid. _'Guess Maxie's pulling out all the stops,'_ He thought to himself before standing, "I'm afraid there's something I need to tend to for a moment that can't wait, _Senor_ Muto, Mokuba, will you two be fine without me for a bit?" Both of his charges nodded in response.

Gregorio then stood and began to head back into the castle, when Mokuba called, "Shadow-san," He looked back to into Mokuba's happy eyes, "Thank you for bringing me here."

Gregorio smiled in response before exiting the garden, parasol once clasped tight in one hand as he strolled the halls. He paid close attention to the details of the doors until he found the one he wanted. An elegant mirror pattern engraved on the simple white wood double doors.

He slipped in to find a room filled with all shorts of mirrors. The ones on the walls were reasonably large of square or rectangular shape in either gold or sliver or bronze frames. The mirrors sitting on the tables were all circular, either sitting on a stand or flat on one side atop the table. Finally, in the center of the room, was a single, but elegant mirror of an oval shape of a tall height framed with gold, which was decorated with a floral pattern, a red jewel in the shape of a spade on one side, a purple diamond-shaped jewel on the opposite side, a green tree-leaf clover or club sat at the top of the frame and a pink heart-shaped jewel sat at the bottom.

Completely ignoring his reflections in the other mirrors, Gregorio slowly approached the mirror in the center of the room, taking a moment to admire the frame before focusing, before closing his eyes. He ignored the sudden whispers in his ears beckoning him to open them as he began to whisper the chant his grandmother had taught him as a child:

 _Mirror, mirror, before me stand,_

 _Show me my heart's desired land_

 _Mirror, mirror, drop your lie,_

 _Help me view and help me defy_

He smiled as the harsh whispers turned into angered cries before opening his eyes as his reflection was replaced with spiraling lights of pink, blue, gold and aqua-green.

* * *

 **And done! Now that was a chapter and a half to write! I admit this was a hoot to write since I wasn't sure if I wanted to keep Tea as the duelist against Mai, but decided against it. To be honest, I'm not Tea's biggest fan, her friendship rants kinda got annoying after a while, plus, I don't see the point in her having this one duel and not real victory when her only other duel is during the Virtual World Arc and I already have plans for that.**

 **Anyways, tell me what you guys think about the new stuff in this chapter, like introducing Mokuba to the past Butterflies and the Mirror Room, and Greg's little spell. I'd like to hear your thoughts about what he might be doing, as well as the interaction in the helicopter.**

 **I got to admit, its been fun trying to capture the past Queens' personalities, since there's been no actual interaction outside them being creepy ghosts in Cleaved. I had to go off what the Book of Spells had to say about them to get a basic idea of what they were like alive. Let me know what you think.**

 **Also, what do you think is up with Lars? After all, all that time up in space can defiantly change a person depending on the actual events.**

 **Again, let me know what you guys think of Lapis Lazuli VS Mai Valentine. Not as exciting as Stephanie VS Mai, but I tried.**

 **Now, since there aren't any * notes, I'm just going to move on to the unofficial polls:**

 **Should Yugi remain King of Games or should Stephanie become the Queen?**

 **King: 8, Queen: 2**

 **Should Stephanie get an Egyptian God Card?**

 **Yes: 5, No: 6**

 _ **If**_ **yes, however temporary, which one should it be?**

 **Obelisk: 2, Ra: 1, Slifer: 1**

 **As for the actual poll that you'll find at the top of my homepage, well, Norse and Mayan are now tied with three votes. Can't say I'm surprised about people like the idea of Norse God cards with all the Thor and Avengers movies, personally Loki's my favorite, I just love a trickster, what can I say. Though, I am curious about Mayan's** **popularity, guess it just for the sake of the new and exciting. Meh.**

 **Anyways, I ask again, how do you guys think Mewberty were to go for Stephanie?**

 **I'm genuinely curious to know how you guys think it would go for a Mewman/Human/Gem Hybrid.**

 **Anywho, till next time everyone!**


	25. Chapter 25

**In fear of sounding like a broken record: I do not own Steven Universe or any of its original characters nor do I own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of its original characters, I can say, however, that I do own Stephanie, her yami, Primrose, and all OCs I chose to make, including original Crystal Beasts, i.e. Bismuth Beaver, Crystal Myths, i.e: Garnet Mother Time, and other original cards. If I _did_ own Steven Universe, trust me, things would've been a lot different and if I own Yu-Gi-Oh there would've been a way for Atem to stay and have all his memories.**

 **Lady Twilight Prime: You have to love cinnamon rolls and I am not going to ask where you got glowing demon puppies, but I will give you cookie points, the bacon incentive is pure gold, I have to write that one down somewhere one of these days. As for Yugi being freaked out, I think he'd be in the right seeing how Star was like, and yeah, Stephanie's going to meet her grandparents, now there's a scene I would love in the actual Steven Universe show-cannon. Also, for a side not, I wanted to offer you a theory challenge if you're interested.**

 **Starfiger: I'll admit it would be on the side of over-kill to not just give Stephanie (or normal Steven for that matter) a Millennium Item but also the magic of the Butterfly Family, but in my defense, Greg as a character kinda gave me leeway to do so, considering the only family the show brings up is his cousin Andy and a mention of an aunt(correct me if I'm wrong there) and his side of the family is never brought up again, and all things considered, he would pass for a child of Marco and Star fully grown and before you bring up that he has black eyes, may I point out that DNA and genes in general are weird, I actually watched a video that went into these sorts of things and it said that eye color can change over time, it can start out grey then turn blue or green or brown or what-have-you over time, so who's to say it can't turn darker into a blackish color even later on in life? Also, don't get me wrong, I also was concerned about the possibility of writing myself into a corner with three virtually very different worlds clashing into one universe, but for one thing, I've always loved challenge and I may have hand-written a couple of chapters between Duelist Kingdom and Battle City as a cooling period of sorts to not just easy tension for the Yu-Gi-Oh side, but also let the other fandoms shine, but just as a sort of break as I really need to play catch-up with this anime. On that note, thanks for respecting my discession with what direction I take this in, its honestly really refreshing compared to horror stories I've heard about less...defined reviewers.**

 **Now, with that out of the way, let's move on shall we?**

 **I'm really looking forward to this one!**

* * *

 _(Beach City, Sun Incincerator)_

Priyanka couldn't being to guess how the other adults were probably feeling, since her daughter was in the room with her, while their children were all out there with the explosions and gunfire. She had honestly expected more patients when Padparascha had confirmed they had retreated back into the ship, but thankfully, she only confirmed one injury on one person, that person being Jamie.

Connie had volunteered to go check on them when she saw how worried the mailman's parents had become at the news. So imagine Priyanka's heart attack when Buck came in carrying her daughter, despite the reassurance that it was just a very mild blow to the head and had gotten hit in the side from the fall. She was confused when her daughter started talking about gemstones, but figured it was just the stress and the head-wound talking, after all, she had heard stranger things from head-wound patients.

It wasn't until only she and Vidalia were left in the room that she allowed herself to breath and relax. She had wanted to do one last check on her patient and Vidalia wanted to check on her closest friend.

"Still no changes?" Vidalia asked. Priyanka shook her head, "Nothing, and it still doesn't make any logical sense; he shouldn't be in a coma, there's no wounds, no signs of malnutrition, nothing."

Vidalia couldn't help smirking a little at the frustration and confusion on the doctor's face, prompting, "And the non-logical?"

Priyanka rubbed the bridge of her nose, "I'm actually starting to believe all that soul nonsense talk."

"Is it really that far out there to believe though?" Vidalia asked with an arch brow, "Considering all of the walking, talking alien rocks and the fact we're currently hiding out in one of their space ships?"

"When you put it like that, no," Priyanka admitted, "But I would still like to think some things of _human_ origin are still impossible."

Vidalia shrugged, unable to blame a woman of sound science like Priyanka wanting to disbelieve in things like souls and magic, if anything for the sake of her sanity. But Vidalia learned long ago to keep an open mind to these sorts of things ever since she first saw just what kind of tricks Greg had up his sleeves. Honestly, why a man like that would want to be a starving musician, she'll never know.

A sudden knocking made the two women instantly turn to the door before remembering that the Gems don't knock, they always use those hand-scanner things. When the sound continued they both jumped before looking around.

When Priyanka spied what was making the sound, she shrieked, making Vidalia jump. But when she turned to look at where Priyanka was pointing, she jaw dropped.

Standing there in the reflective surface of the wall, standing between their own reflections, was none other than Greg. But he looked very different from the unresponsive body lying behind them. He was still tall and packed with hard-earned muscle, but he was dressed very differently then she ever remembered him ever dressing. She knew he was half Latino, but this was the first time she had ever seen him wear anything Spanish, much less anything so formal. It was a traditional Mariachi outfit but without the sombrero, instead he was holding a rather fancy and dainty looking Spanish-styled parasol over one shoulder. Unsurprisingly, the parasol was space-themed, particularly, it was nebula themed.

And yet again, on each of his cheeks, was those strange orange music note marks.

He grinned mischievously at them and gave a little wave as Priyanka stammered in shocked-disbelief, voice-hitching as she pointed back and forth between him and his body before looking like she was about to faint.

He motioned them to come closer before taking a deep breath and using it to fog up the wall as if it were normal glass. Though hesitant, they moved closer to read his message as he wrote it in the fogged up wall:

 _Find the notebook in my van._

He then drew a butterfly and the two women shared a confused look.

 _(Duelist Kingdom)_

"Finally, we're finally there," Stephanie said with anticipation as she, Yugi, Mai and the others all walked up the steps to the doors of the castle. "I was honestly starting to think we'd never get there," Peridot admitted. "Me too," Tea agreed.

"Show some more faith you too," Bismuth chuckled.

"Look," Jasper suddenly growled making them all stop to look and see Kemo of all people standing guard at the doors.

"Ah great, that bozo," Joey groaned before holding out an arm to stop Lapis when it looked like she was going to charge the guy. "Can I hit _this_ one at least?" Lapis almost begged, " _This_ guy at least."

"As much as I would love to see that Lazuli, you're gonna have to save it," Mai commented not missing how Leon flinched at the sight of the man, hiding further behind Yugi. "Save it for Pegasus," Jasper told Lapis, who immediately perked up and relaxed, making the others all sweat-drop, save for the other Gems. "Okay!" Lapis chirped rather cheerily.

"He's never going to lay a finger on you again, I promise," Yugi assured a still frightened Leon. "He has to get through me first," Jasper added making Leon smile a little.

"Well if it isn't the pipsqueak brigade," Kemo chuckled as they got closer, Stephanie, Yugi, Joey, Leon and Mai all showed their Star Chips, ten each. "So, you gonna let us in or what?" Joey asked prompting a frown from Kemo, but he stepped aside anyways, allowing Mai to remove her Star Chips and began filling the star shaped holes in the lock.

"Last one and...voila," Mai smiled after putting the last one in, instantly, the lock hissed and turned, before the door slowly creaked open. "Cool..." Stephanie, Leon and Peridot admitted under their breath, stars in their eyes, making everyone else in their group chuckle.

"We're finally here," Yugi smiled at Stephanie, who smiled back. _'Hold on just a little longer guys,'_ Stephanie thought squashing down her concern for her family. Leon surprised her by hugging her around the leg, but she laughed and smiled down at him, making him beam.

The group of duelists all walked in, followed closely by the Gems. Kemo didn't dare try to stop the strange girls, especially after Jasper and Lapis both threw him utterly murderous looks, as if daring him to try. Lets say if looks could kill, Kemo would've been eight ft under or more. But when Tea, Tristan and Bakura tried to follow, Kemo immediately jumped in their path to stop them.

"Now, hold it right there!" Kemo said making everyone pause, "You three don't even have dueling gloves!"

"But you have to let us in," Tea said with an innocent smile, "We're the cheerleaders!" Stephanie and Yugi sweat-dropped, along with the Gems and Mai.

"The cheer-what?" Kemo demanded in disbelief, "No star-chips, no duel glove; not a duelist meaning no entry!"

"You're not actually going to try to kick them off with us here right?" Bismuth asked in a warning tone as she and Jasper cracked their knuckles, making Kemo nervous. "A job is a job, if they don't have dueling gloves or ten star-chips, then I can't-" Kemo began but was cut off as Peridot suddenly grabbed him by the tie and, in a display of startling strength, swung him over her shoulder and into the ground, much to everyone's shock.

Peridot, in a motion similar to Garnet, made her visor disappear, allowing silvery blue eyes to burn like liquid ice fire as she stood over Kemo, still holding onto his tie, brow furrowed in a very pissed off look that put Kaiba's best glares to shame.

"Now you listen to me and you listen good, you overzealous, steroid-stuffed, pea-brained clod," Peridot said in a very scarily calm voice that just dared Kemo to try interrupt her, "Everyone here is sore, tired, I'm pretty sure everyone could use a nice shower or bath, hungry, _I'm **cranky**_ and I'm this," She held her free hand's thumb and pointer finger to emphasize her point, " ** _This_** close to just screaming, so unless you want to find out what its like to be _in_ one of the arenas..." She then dropped her voice into an eerily calm voice as she then gave him a dark smile, voice sending a chill down everyone's spines, as she yanked on the tie, foot planted on his chest to keep him down, making him choke a little, "You'll let everyone through!"

Kemo's face started to turn a tiny bit blue as he managed to choke out, "Y-Yes...! Yes...! M-M-Ma'am...!"

Peridot then gave a cheery smile and patted his cheek, "Good organic!" Before letting go of his tie, making his head crash into the ground, making the humans and Stephanie cringe before she proceed to _skip_ over to them...stepping on Kemo as she went.

"Scary..." Leon whimpered as he hid behind Stephanie, shaking in fear as Tea, Tristan and Bakura all stared at Peridot, also a bit terrified of the green Gem.

"Remind me to never get on your bad side shorty," Mai added sounding rather impressed, making Peridot giggle. "In Peridot's defense, the guy had it coming for kidnapping Mokuba and trying to unfairly boot Leon off the island," Jasper said also sounding impressed, but also proud, making Peridot grin as the doors shut behind them.

They soon stopped at a pair of double doors and imagine Stephanie's shock to see a pair of Holo-Pearls standing guard, spears in hand.

"What are those?" Tristan said in shock. "Holo-Pearls..." Stephanie answered in shock. "Wait, Pearls as in your family member Pearl?" Joey asked in surprise, making her nod. "Holo as in their holograms?" Tea added more in amazement. "Don't underestimate them though, even if Pearl's poofed, they can do really bad damage," Stephanie warned making them tense.

They then noticed some people sitting in the benches nearest the door. "Isn't that..." Tea said in surprise. "Bandit Keith!" Joey said with a glare at the smug looking blonde man, making Stephanie freeze up with wide, alarmed eyes, instinctively clutching down at her skirt, which only Mai and Yugi noticed. "And Mako!" Tristan said in surprise to see the fisherman, who looked over with a smile, now wearing a blue vest over his still shirtless upper body. "And Rex!" Lapis said not entirely surprised to see the long-haired brunette, who looked up as well with narrowed eyes. "Dorothy!" Stephanie said upon spying the brunette girl.

"Hello friends!" Mako greeted with a friendly grin. "About time you guys got here," Rex commented. "Nice to see you guys again!" Dorothy smiled brightly.

"Well, lookie here, if it isn't Joey Wheeler and Little Miss Pinkie and their band of dueling dummies," Bandit Keith smirked at them, earning frowns from the other two finalists. "You sleaze ball!" Joey growled angrily, fists up, "I'm gonna make ya pay for trappin' us in that cave!"

"He did what?" Rex, Mai, Leon and Mako asked in shocked-anger. "Oh really, give it your best shot punk!" Bandit Keith egged him on and Joey was going to lunge, had Tristan not held him back. "Save it when ya duel him Joey," Tristan advised making Joey growl.

"Good luck with that," Bandit Keith rolled his eyes, "Cause unlike Bonz I'm not about to lose to some punk with cheap tricks and luck."

"I'll show you cheap..." Joey growled hackles raised, making his friends sigh.

Stephanie remembered something and looked around, "Wait, where's Kaiba, he had ten star chips too."

"Wait, Seto Kaiba's here too!" Dorothy gasped in surprise, getting Mako and Rex's interest. "I'm right here," Seto said making them turn to see Seto Kaiba emerge from a shadowed corridor, Maisie by his side.

"I'm surprised to see you made it into the castle after our duel," Seto said eyes focused on Yugi, who met his eyes unafraid, "You looked rather shaken up."

"My friends reminded me what I'm here for," Yugi replied neutrally, "My _ojiisan_."

"So Pegasus captured your _ojiisan's_ soul too, huh?" Seto asked getting everyone's attention. "And my father's," Stephanie added making his expression soften a little.

"He did the same thing to Mokuba," Seto admitted making Stephanie, Yugi and the Gems gasp, "Its why I dueled you Yugi, why I went as far as I did."

"Oh...I-I'm sorry..." Stephanie flinched rubbing her arm, remembering how she had punched him. Guessing what was on her mind, Seto shrugged, "Its fine, barely felt it."

Maisie buzzed, "Liar..." Earning a pointed look from her master.

"What are we all waiting for anyways?" Bismuth asked curiously. "Don't know, those strange chicks won't let anyone pass," Bandit Keith answered. "Wasn't asking you," Bismuth muttered.

"Apparently someone was going to meet all of us once all of the finalists had entered the castle," Mako said in attempt to keep the peace.

Then the two side doors opened, imagine everyone's surprise when a two figures, clearly female and just an inch or so taller than Stephanie and Yugi stepped out. One had blue skin and long, lighter blue, waist-length hair with bangs that covered her eyes, a blue triangular-faceted gemstone on the inside of one hand. The other had red skin and a squarish Afro, wearing a red headband and wearing a dark red martial artist gi uniform of sorts, like something out of an anime.

"Ruby!" Stephanie said happily, "Sapphire!" She went to embrace one of them, but stopped when Sapphire stepped back, which was when she noticed the collars around their necks.

"Welcome Duelist Kingdom Finalists," Sapphire spoke in a rather monotone voice that sent shivers up everyone's spines, "As you all may have figured out by now, this is one of the few non-National tournaments to have more than four finalists."

"Your host Maximillion Pegasus also informs that two special guests will be joining him in spectating this event," Ruby added formally, making Stephanie tear-up at the indifferent tone of her voice, so completely unlike the lively Ruby she remembered, "They're Excellencies, King Marco and Queen Star Butterfly." The humans, even Bandit Keith and Seto gasped with wide eyes.

"Who and who butter-what?" Peridot asked. "Aren't kings and queens like human Diamonds?" Bismuth asked for clarification, much to those who weren't in the Gem-know-how's confusion. "Something like that, the Butterfly family is the new Monarchy that rules a small country over in America," Yugi explained. "A-mar-ii-cah?" Jasper and Bismuth asked in confusion.

"So, wait, we're dueling in front of actual royalty?" Mai asked with wide eyes, both excited and alarmed, "But I'm not dressed at my best!"

Stephanie gave her a look, "That's what your worried about?"

"How often do you get to duel before royalty?" Mai asked, "In a case like this you _have_ to dress to impress!" The Gems just shared a confused look.

"Which is why, along with rooms," Sapphire said, "Mr. Pegasus has also provided clothes for you all to use in a shared dressing room," She then motioned to the door she had entered from, "Ladies, if you will all follow me."

"Gentlemen," Ruby added slightly strained, motioning to the door she had entered from, "This way."

The groups all split, the Gems ultimately following after Stephanie and the girls. Stephanie looked sadly at Sapphire as the seer Gem lead the way down the hall.

"These will be your rooms for your stay at Duelist Kingdom," Sapphire stated motioning to the set of single doors, each having the first letter in each girl's name stenciled on each door and a gemstone replica stenciled for each Gem, "I will be waiting out here once you've found the rooms to your liking."

Stephanie looked at Sapphire for a moment before going into her new room and was almost immediately overwhelmed. The entire room was fit for a princess, from the silk sheets of the canopy double bed to the soft carpeted floor to the fancy furniture. There was even a balcony. She rushed to it and opened the doors, stepping out to see a gorgeous view of the castle garden.

"Pegasus sure pulled out all the steps for his guest rooms," Stephanie remarked to herself, before frowning at the interior, "But did it all have to be _pink_." She knew it was her and her mother's natural color, but honestly, this was starting to get ridiculous.

She then stepped out to find the others had all gathered back in the hall way. Sapphire led them to a set of double doors and opened them, revealing a large bathing area, complete with a bath you stepped into, like a hot-tub. "Mr. Pegasus figured you would all like the security of being all together," Sapphire said as they looked around, "This door here leads to the dressing room where you'll find the clothes provided." With that, Sapphire left, making Stephanie whine softly at being completely ignored.

 _'Sapphire...Ruby...'_ Stephanie thought worriedly, _'What did he do to all of you?'_

On the other side of the castle, Ruby had led the young men through a similar route, till leading them to a large shower, like at a public gym or pool. Several shower heads lined the top of the area and sets of towels were placed on the benches across from them. "The dressing room is right through there," Ruby continued motioning to the next door, "The clothes Mr. Pegasus has provided are all in there."

"Wait!" Yugi said as Ruby turned to leave, grabbing her arm, "Aren't you one of Stephanie's family members? Why didn't you say something to her?" This got the others' interest.

But Ruby shrugged him off, whispering so only Yugi could hear, "We want to, but we can't." Before she left quickly. Yugi sighed.

"So that was one of Stpehanie's family members?" Joey asked. "Yeah, she called her Ruby," Yugi asnwered. "Someone mind filling the rest of us in here," Rex said frustrated with how confused and out of the loop he was, "What was that all about?"

"And I thought her name was Pinkamena Diamonde," Mako added genuinely confused, making the others all flinch, while Bandit Keith smirked as he began to undress. "You punks better hurry before the water gets cold," Bandit Keith warned.

"Its a long story," Yugi sighed following Bandit Keith's example.

Meanwhile, the girls had already stepped into the slightly bubbling hot water, sighing with content. "So you think Mr. Pegasus' blackmailing your moms," Dorothy asked Stephanie, who nodded. "I can't think of any other reason Sapphire wouldn't even look at me," Stephanie admitted still a little hurt, but more nervous as she remained tense as she let Tea rub some shampoo into her hair, being reminded of when Pearl would do so when she was little.

"Why so tense Steph?" Mai asked narrowing her eyes, "We're all girls here, its not like you have something we don't," She then remembered the gemstone, "Well, save the jewelry on your belly."

"I still can't believe that," Dorothy admitted, "But its so cool! You can really do so many awesome things!"

"I wouldn't call it cool," Stephanie said bashfully, "Besides, I'm just not used to bathing in front of others."

"You wouldn't last long at bathhouses then," Mai commented. "Aren't you guys a little freaked out, I mean, I have a pink gemstone in the place of my bellybutton," Stephanie questioned them. "So?" Tea said confused. "Its just not natural..." Stephanie said as if explained everything.

"Actually, if you really inherited that thing from your mother than its perfectly natural," Mai said frowning a little, "In fact, I think it adds to your charm."

"It is really pretty," Dorothy agreed. "Who told you it isn't natural anyways?" Tea asked with a frown.

"No one," Stephanie said a little too quickly. "Stephanie..." Mai prompted. "No one, really, I don't even remember their names anymore anyways," Stephanie assured.

"So it was more than one person," Mai confirmed making Stephanie sigh. "The Gems were never really all that interactive with humans, not even the ones back home," Stephanie explained, "So, when I started showing up with a gemstone on my belly, people started thinking I was weird; kids didn't want to play with me, except my big brothers and sister, adults were always wary of me because they didn't know what exactly I inherited from my mom, even my own dad was cautious around me."

"Stephanie, you're not weird," Tea assured her sincerely. "A little eccentric sure, but not outright weird," Dorothy agreed.

"Alright girls," Mai said standing up, making Stephanie blush, "Time to stop soaking before we end up like prunes, time for a makeover." Tea smiled excitedly, while Dorothy and Stephanie shared unsure looks.

Back in the mens' shower, Mako, Rex, Seto and Leon were a little reeling from what they've been told. "So she's really half alien," Mako said in wonder, "And we were led here by a full alien."

"You mean to tell me the only reason humanity is alive right now is because Pinkie's mama decided to rebel against her own kind and killed her so called queen," Bandit Keith said in disbelief. "As much as I don't want to believe aliens are real, there's really no other explanation for Peridot, Jasper, Bismuth and Lapis' gemstones and appearances," Seto admitted pinching the bridge of his nose, eyes shut to protect them from the shampoo running down his face.

"We found it hard to believe to, but we've see what they can do," Joey admitted after washing out his hair, "They're real, all of them are real."

"Wait, so, Pegasus managed to kidnap four of these aliens?" Rex said in disbelief, "How?"

"Even Stephanie hasn't managed to figure that out," Yugi answered with a shrug before long they all turned off the water, wrapping towels around their waists before moving onto the dressing room.

Joey and Tristan stared, along with Bandit Keith and Rex. "Suits," Rex groaned, "It just had to be suits."

"They want us tah wear damn monkey suits..." Joey groaned as well. "You better hope Stephanie doesn't find out you said that in front of Leon," Yugi commented as he led the youngest into the room, makign Joey yelp in alarm, looking around nervously, as if expecting the girl to pop out of nowhere to hurt him again for cursing.

"What's with him?" Mako asked confused. "Pray Stephanie never kicks or punches you," Was all Bakura answered, much to his and Rex's confusion.

In the girls' dressing room, Mai and Tea were squealing over all of the beautiful dresses and gowns organized by size then style on the racks. The Gems had waited for them and were looking through them as well out of curiosity, figuring they may as well play along and we're genuinely curious about fancy human clothes.

"This is cute," Lapis hummed pulling a dress from the rack. "Mhmm, not your color, but you'd defiantly rock the neckline," Mai complemented as Dorothy and Stephanie watched, feeling very out of place. Stephanie couldn't help but smirk a little, "Joey would defiantly like it." Which made Lapis blush an eggplant purple.

"Stephanie!" Lapis complained making everyone laugh.

"Aren't you girls going to pick something?" Tea asked after looking at a mirror as she held a yellow mermaid-skirt evening gown to her body. "I'm not much of a dress person, skirts sure, gowns and fancy dresses, not so much," Dorothy shrugged.

"And I'm not all that into fancy dressing up either," Stephanie admitted, "Plus, I'm horrible at fashion, I'd sooner clash colors that aren't pink."

"Good thing you have us then, huh?" Mai winked playfully, making Stephanie flush, "Any preferences?"

To which both Beast-duelists answered at the same time in rather scary sync, "Anything that isn't pink!" Before looking at each other in surprise and everyone burst out laughing.

"I can't believe we're really wearin' these," Joey complained after they had all dressed in suits they had found comfortable.

All of them were traditional black but all wore different colored ties. Yugi's was a soft, but noticeable lavender purple, Tristan's was multi-colored, Joey's was a deep blue, Bakura's was a peachy-pink, Seto's was a yellowish-green, Bandit Keith's was a plain gray, Leon's was a bold, robin-egg blue, Mako's was a medium blue and Rex's was a simple clean-cut white. Mako still wore his necklace and headband, Rex stubbornly wore his own hat, Bandit Keith still wore his bandanna and sunglasses, Seto wore his locket and star-pendant and Yugi of course had his puzzle.

"Hey Kaiba, I've been meaning to ask," Tristan suddenly said, "What's with the necklace?"

Seto didn't say anything at first for a moment before answering, "It belonged to my mother." He then walked out into the hall where Maisie was waiting. "Oh," Tristan said not sure what else to say.

"Do I have style or do I have style?" Mai asked as she posed in front of a mirror, wearing a stylish but surprisingly simple deep, rich purple evening gown that had a gypsy-styled skirt and was strapless, being tight in the middle to better flatter her hips and bust, but not in a revealing way. To complement her outfit were a pair of sharp toed matching stiletto, two inch heels, and dark purplish-grey eye-shadow to make her eyes pop and a dark pink lipstick to complement the purple without going for the cliched red. To finish it off was a simple silver necklace and matching earrings, hair pulled up into a half-bun, half ponytail up-do.

"You sure this doesn't make me look...even more plump?" Dorothy asked timidly as she stepped up to a mirror next to Mai to see how she looked in a slightly more traditional A-line gown, the skirt reaching her ankles and made of a sky blue colored silk, a thin, almost completely transparent layer over top it with a strapless off-white-blue corset top that was lightly bejeweled to show off her shoulders, which was accented further by the matching sky blue evening gloves that covered up to half of her bicep and to complete the outfit was a pair of one and a half inch heeled white sandals. Around her neck was a white necklace with a silvery-white seashell pendant with blue beads dotting the necklace itself. Her hair was pulled out of her braids and was pulled back into a wavy ponytail. To finish it off was a very light blue eye-shadow, a little sea-green eye-liner and peachy-pink lip-gloss, giving an innocent look.

"Are you kidding? You look beautiful!" Tea chirped as she appeared next to Dorothy, smiling into the mirror, "I just wish I wasn't such a stick figure."

Tea was dressed in a figure-flattering, evening dress consisting of a full-length mermaid skirt and sleeveless boat neckline combo. The dress started at the top in a pure white color that darkened into a gray as it got closer to her waistline, which then bleed into a butter yellow, flattering her curves without over-doing it, complete with a pair of wrist-gloves of a matching yellow, complete with a pair of off-white-yellowish court shoes. Since her hair was too short to do much to do with, Mai managed to give it a wavy effect and went with the simple decorative route with yellow dahlia hair-clips. To complete her look was a simple chain necklace with a star-shaped jewel hanging off it and matching earrings as the hair-clips doubled to keep some hair pinned up to show them off.

"A stick? Really?" Mai scoffed, "You aren't that thin Gardener."

"Hey," Lapis called out, "How do we look?" The girls looked over and gasped in awe. Lapis, Peridot, Bismuth and Jasper had used relative shape-shifting to change their attire to play along with the fancy attire, though only Lapis looked rather comfortable in her new get-up.

Lapis had gone for a completely modern look while blending a more older fashion era all at the same time, clearly aiming more to have fun. It was clearly inspired by the 1900s England fashion-trend, the top having a very jacket-like design complete with buttons, but instead of trailing down with tails, it tampered in as a leotard. Hanging off the waist asymmetrical, flared skirt, showing off the mid-calf high boots she wore to complete the daring look, her excited twirl, showing off the Blue Diamond insignia on the back beneath the laces of a corset and the shoulders cut off, leaving the top sleeveless. It was all done in a color scheme that leaned on the darker side of the blue spectrum to the point the boots almost looked black.

Peridot went with a more simplistic, yet cute design, which was by far the most modern, taking inspiration from Lolita, right down to the flared, poofy skirt and petticoats, to the lacy boots and gloves. She even wore a lacy ribbon choker and had foregone her visor, leaving her a blushing leafy-green messy. She even had a little teddy bear charm changing off her ribbon sash belt. All of it done in varying shades of yellow with white accents, her Yellow Court insignia sat barely noticeable in the center of her chest.

Bismuth looked fairly uncomfortable without her apron-getup and had gone with a surprisingly sleek dress with thin straps that looked like it belonged on the red carpet or a runway, it seemed to gleam with its rainbow-colored fabric and to complete it was a simple fair of red one-inch heels. It was simple over all, but she looked stunning none the less.

Finally, Jasper still kept her brown pallet, but went with a modern dress that fell past her knees and flared, her Yellow Court insignia proudly displayed on her collar beneath the short-sleeved collar. To complete the look was a pair of wedge-heeled boots that were tiger-striped and she had pulled her hair up into a ponytail. Again, simple, but fitting.

"You guys look amazing!" Dorothy gushed bright and starry eyed. "Love the outfits, especially you Lazuli," Mai complemented wolf whistling, making Lapis blush just the tiniest bit of plum, but puffed her chest in pride, "Loving the boots," Mai then smirked, "Can just imagine how Wheeler's going to react." Now Lapis' was resembling an actual plum with how dark she was blushing.

"You sure its not too much?" Lapis asked uncertainly as her confidence started to dwindle, "I wanted to try something unique and..."

"Its perfect!" Tea assured, "Maybe a little bold considering we'll be in the presence of royalty, but I heard Queen Star was a real rebel in her youth, so maybe she'll actually appreciate it," Lapis smiled a bit at the idea, before Tea then turned to Peridot and squealed, "You look so god damn cute, I could hug you all day!"

"Please don't..." Peridot said a little put off, twiddling her fingers, "My nerves are shot enough as it is, I still can't believe I let Steph talk me into this thing."

"Where is Stephanie anyways?" Mai asked looking around for the girl. "Still in the booth," Bismuth replied as she looked in a mirror, "You sure this isn't too plain or too...colorful?"

"Are you kidding?" Dorothy asked, "It totally suits you! I love the different colors, I _wish_ I could pull something like that off!" Bismuth blushed a deep blue at that.

Jasper's face was unreadable as she looked herself over in the mirror, smoothing down her skirt and turning this way and that, before saying, "I suppose this will work."

"Suppose?" Mai scoffed, "More like sex appeal on legs, meow~!" Jasper picked up on the teasing in her voice, but the joke itself was lost to her and just figured it was a good thing and simply shrugged.

"C'mon Steph, we don't have all day!" Mai complained as she went over to the booth. "Are you sure about this Mai?" Stephanie asked through the curtain very unsure, which sounded very strange to the Gems. "Of course I'm sure, I'm more than sure, when it comes to fashion I'm never wrong," Mai stated without a shadow of a doubt, "Now get your ass out here before I go in there and draw you out, and so help me if I ruin that hair after all that work I put into it, I'll-!" She was cut off when the curtain opened.

The other girls and Gems all watched with hitched breaths as Stephanie stepped out slowly, looking very shy. It was a traditional ballgown, complete with petticoats to make the skirt flare and poof like a tent and the skirt almost covered her feet, giving little peeks to her inch-high slippers, and the sweetheart-neckline gave her chest just the right amount of oomph to make them perkier without drawing too much attention, it even had the traditional short princess sleeves to cover her shoulders. The entire thing was a soft lavender, complementing and drawing out the pink of her hair without overshadowing each other. The sheer over-layer on the skirt was decorated with pearled flowers, matching the one in the center of her bosom and the sleeves were translucent. She still wore her locket, but instead of gloves she wore a set of pink pearl bracelets and matching earrings. She had the lightest lavender eye-shadow applied along with clear gloss to give her lips shine over top a soft pink, making her lips look even more plump then normal. To finish the look was a single lavender rose hair-clip over one ear and somehow, Mai managed to make her hair look even fluffier. In the center of the tight bodice, Mai had carefully cut out a simple heart to frame her gemstone.

"Stephanie..." Lapis and Peridot gasped in awe as Stephanie slowly approached the mirror. "You look..." Dorothy said in awe, "Just like..."

Mai couldn't help smiling a little, finishing Dorothy's sentence, "A princess..."

 _'I hate princesses,'_ Stephanie thought as she paused to look at her hands, nails painted a soft lavender to match her dress, _'There always stuck on the side-lines, they're never fighting along side the people they're suppose to be protecting and leading, they're always the ones that need to be rescued; I want to be more than that; I am more than that.'_

She slowly looked at her reflection and gasped in surprise, eyes widening even further as the girl in the glass mirror her actions. Slowly, she rose her hands up, watching as the girl did the same and slowly touched her cheeks. Disbelieved, she trailed her hands down her dress, watching as the girl in the mirror did the same, she slowly turned to the left a little and yet again, the girl did the same.

"Is that...really...m-m-me...?" Stephanie asked in shocked-disbelief. "It sure is, Steph," Bismuth assured her gently with a smile. "You look beautiful," Surprisingly, it was Jasper who said it, but no one called her out for it, nor did anyone disagree.

While stifling her gasp at the compliment, Stephanie was unable to help the tears that prickled her eyes as she turned to full look at her reflection, almost whispering, "No one's...n-n-no on-one's...ever...ever called me...b-b-b-beautiful...be-before...not...not like...this..." Her friends, even Mai couldn't help how they're hearts melted at the admission, mentally planning to find a couple of kids and giving them a reality check.

 _(Unknown Pink-Plain)_

 ** _Surrounded by butterflies, a single hand held up a pink screen, smiling softly at the image of Stephanie tearing up at her own reflection, slowly, the figure gently traced Stephanie's teary face, a soft sigh escaping, "Oh Stephanie..."_**

 _(Duelist Kingdom)_

Mai was the one to approach, asking in a surprisingly gentle tone, "How does it feel?"

Stephanie barely managed to withhold her tears as she turned a soft smile to the blonde, almost sighing, "Completely...wonderful..." Without warning, she hugged Mai, who, while startled, couldn't help smiling a little when she felt how the girl was shaking with her effort not to cry as she told her, "Thank you..."

"Anytime kiddo," Mai assured softly.

Knocks on the dressing room doors alerted both groups to Ruby and Sapphire's return and they were both escorted back down the hall. But Stephanie paused when she noticed Croquet nearby and narrowed her eyes.

"Hey guys, I'll catch up in a minute," Stephanie told them, "There's something I need to take care of really quick."

"Damn it, Quartz-Universe," Mai frowned, "I told you to go before I zipped you up."

"Want one of us to go with you?" Peridot asked. "Nah, I'm find, honest," Stephanie assured before approaching Croquet, who merely raised a brow down at her, she just frowned up at him, "Take me to Pegasus, now."

"Right this way, miss," Croquet replied motioning her to follow him, which she did begrudgingly.

Meanwhile, a certain helicopter finally reached the island, the pilot informing, "We've arrived You're Majesties."

"Thank you," Marco said as he opened the door and climbed out first, offering a hand to help Star down, but she ignored it, getting out easily, as if she weren't over sixty. "Never thought I'd see this place again," Star remarked. "Is it really that bad though?" Marco questioned to which she shrugged, before he turned to the pilot, "Make sure the chopper's fully fueled and ready to go once the tournament's over." The man nodded as they walked off.

Meanwhile, Croquet opened a door, allowing Stephanie to step into a room where Pegasus sat reading a comic and enjoying a glass of red wine.

"Oh Funny Bunny what will you do next?" Pegasus mused aloud fondly, before glancing up and noticing them, "Ah, thank you Croquet, you may leave us." Croquet bowed respectfully in response before closing the door, minding Stephanie's skirt.

"You certainly have your mother's bravery," Pegasus remarked as he turned fully to face her, prompting a frown from her as she crossed her arms, "Coming here to face me all by your lonesome, knowing full well what I can do." He prove his point, he moved his hair back to reveal his Millennium Eye, which made Stephanie tense a bit, her Millennium Earrings giving a warning flash of gold in response as Primrose appeared next to her lighter half protectively.

"Technically, I'm not alone," Stephanie rebuffed making Primrose crack a little smile at the acknowledgement, "Secondly, don't ever compare me to my mother, I don't know what you have against her, but don't ever mistake me for her!" She then squared her shoulders into a more firm stance, "And I'm not afraid of you either, I'm here for Mokuba Kaiba, let him go, now!"

"You're not here to demand for your precious Crystal Gems or your dear father?" Pegasus asked feigning surprise then idly amusement, holding up two cards, one having Mokuba's picture on it, the other having her father's, "What a faithful little girl you are, choosing to save a complete stranger instead of a member of your own family."

"Would you hand any of them over if I did?" Stephanie huffed arching a brow at him. "No," Pegasus admitted without hesitation, "Besides, i need Mokuba's soul to ensure Seto Kaiba's participation in this tournament, why should I set him free just because you say so? Because I owe your mother for saving the Earth?"

"You don't need Mokuba; you're trying to steal KaibaCorp, Kaiba would've come here even if he had to swim irregardless of extra incentive," Stephanie stated matter-of-factly, "And don't go there, I never needed my mother before and I don't need her now." Her cheek marks, earrings and gemstone started to give small glows, indicating a warning.

"Thinking with your heart rather than your head and stubbornly independent," Pegasus chuckled fondly, much to her surprised-confusion, "You really are your father's daughter," Now Stephanie was lost as Pegasus leaned back in thought, "I suppose Kaiba-boy would be dueling with a more clear-head if he didn't have his brother's well-being constantly on his mind; follow me."

He walked over to a bookcase and pulled out a book, causing the case to slide aside, revealing a secret staircase. "Cliche much?" Stephanie commented making Pegasus chuckle in response as he lead her down the stairs into the dungeon, making Stephanie shiver as she took in the steal bars, rubbing her arms.

"Keep in mind, I'm doing this in return for a little favor," Pegasus told her as he opened one cell door. "I'm not giving you my earrings, if that's what your after," Stephanie said, instinctively covering her earrings, making him chuckle. "Even if I did want to ask for them, I can't," Pegasus assured her, "I'll be saving that for our rematch."

"Then what do you want?" Stephanie asked. "Its quite simple, in fact, you could call it more than fair," Pegasus said taking out a vile, "I want you to fill this with your tears."

"Wh-What?" Stephanie and Primrose stammered in shock. "M-My tears...?" Stephanie said in confusion, "Why would...?"

"I'm well of aware of the extent of your healing powers," Pegasus stated, "Let's just say I'm curious to just how much it can heal," He then shrugged, "Besides, what real choice do you have?"

He motioned into the now open cell, making her look in and gasp to see Mokuba sitting against a wall, ankle shackled, the same dead, blank expression on his face as her father had, staring off into nothing at a wall. "Mokuba!" She rushed to him, easily snapping the shackle off and gently cradled him, "Mokuba, please wake up..."

"Well, Little Quartz?" Pegasus prompted holding up Mokuba's soul card, "What will it be?"

"Fine, you can have my tears; just let him go!" Stephanie replied slightly panicked at seeing the expression on Mokuba's face, flashing her mind back to her father. Pegasus held out the vial and she took it, not taking much to get her to cry, holding the vial to her cheek to collect the tears.

"Is this enough?" Stephanie asked once it was a little over half full. "Plenty," Pegasus stated taking it back.

Pegasus' Millennium Eye flooded the room with golden light, prompting Stephanie to shield her eyes, unaware of the golden shield protecting her from his power.

 _(The Realm of Magic, New Butterfly Castle)_

Mokuba held his head, cutting himself off from the joke he was starting to tell with a pained hiss, instantly getting everyone's attention.

"Mokuba, dear, are you alright?" Eclipsa asked in concern. "Every...thing...hurts..." Mokuba managed to hiss, shouting and doubling over in pain, falling out of his chair, making the other present Butterflies shout in alarm. "Someone get Shadow and Soupina!" Solaria exlcaimed.

"Don't bother," Celena said perfectly calm as Mokuba's body began to fade out of existence. "Why ever not? How can you be so cal-?" Justhin started before cutting himself off with an unimpressed look, "You already know what's happening don't you?"

Celena nodded, "Whoever separated his soul from his physical body is calling it back to return it."

Comet shushed the pained child as soothingly as she could managed as she knelt by him, advising, "Don't fight it," Mokuba shivered as he continued to fade out, "Goodbye, Mokuba Mutsuki..." With little twinkles of purple light, Mokuba vanished from New Butterfly Castle, "Till we meet again, little one."

"Did he really have to leave so soon?" Solaria pouted. "Mother!" Eclipsa scolded lightly. "What?" Solaria asked, "Don't pretend it wasn't nice having a little one around again or that he didn't remind you of Meteora." Eclipsa sighed, unable to argue.

 _(Duelist Kingdom)_

"Mokuba..." Stephanie gave the boy a very gentle shake as his eyes squeezed closed and his face pinched up, "Mokie..."

Mokuba groaned, slowly opening his eyes, confused, "Seto..." As his vision cleared, the pink hair made it clear it wasn't his brother, "Pink? Where am I? What's going on?"

She shushed him gently, keeping a soft smile of relief on her face, "Everything's going to be fine; let's get you cleaned up, you're filthy." It wasn't a lie, spending so much time down in the dungeon did not do Mokuba any favors. She gently rubbed some dirt off the boy's cheek, making him squirm as he woke up more, whining, "Cut it out!" Making her chuckle.

Remembering Pegasus, Stephanie turned around, but was surprised to see him gone. Shaking her head, Stephanie took Mokuba's hand and led him out of the dungeon back to one of the dressing rooms to get him cleaned up.

Meanwhile, the young men had all gathered in the dining hall, Holo-Pearls at every door. The girls, minus Stephanie, made their entrances. Eyes were immediately drawn. Tristan and Joey were blushing so hard it was a surprise steam wasn't coming out of their ears, blood trickling down their noses as they stared at Bismuth and Lapis, whistling low under their breaths. Yugi sagged a little, unable to help feeling a bit disappointed to see Stephanie wasn't with them.

"You look beautiful..." Joey complemented the Blue Gem. "Thanks..." Lapis blushed darkly, "This is my first time trying a new form." Joey offered her an arm and she smiled, taking it.

"Bismuth...y-y-y-you look...you l-l-look..." Tristan stammered. "Ridiculous, I know," Bismuth blushed embarrassed, "I don't know what I was thinking with multi-colored."

Tea subtly elbowed Tristan, snapping him out of it and he was quick to assure her, "I think you look gorgeous!" He blushed darkly and so did Bismuth, he rubbed the back of his head nervously. "R-Really...?" Bismuth asked in surprise. "Y-Yeah...radiant, even," Tristan admitted smiling a little at the unintentional pun, but it served to make Bismuth blush harder, he then offered an arm, which made her smile shyly as she took it, following Joey and Lapis' leads to the table.

"That is...quite the...bold outfit choice, Miss Jasper," Mako said as he approached the tallest Gem. "It was the only style I genuinely liked," Jasper admitted flushing, "I'm...Jaspers were never made for dresses."

"First time for everything, right?" Mako smiled optimistically, "Plus, the colors look great on you." Jasper cracked a tiny smile in appreciation to his sincerity.

Mako then offered her an arm and Jasper seemed to think it over before shrugging and taking the offered arm, allowing him to lead her to the table as well, flushing a bit when he pulled out the chair for her. Seto was also blushing a wee bit as he stared at Peridot, who squirmed a bit in place nervously.

"I know, I know, I look stupid, you don't have to rub it in," Peridot told him highly embarrassed, "Lolita is by far the most ridiculous fashion sense on Earth."

"I was going to say you look cute," Seto stated much to everyone's shock as Peridot's face closely resembled a dark spring green from blushing so hard, "Never thought I'd ever say this to anyone, but, lace suits you." He then offered her an arm like the others had and she blushed a shade darker and accepted it. Like Mako, Seto pulled her chair out for her, but also pushed her in, making her blush even darker.

"You going to be okay over there Tiny?" Bismuth asked a little amused, the poor technician looked as if she was going to self-poof.

"Presenting, they're imperial Majesties," Croquet announced getting everyone's attention, "King Marco Diaz-Butterfly and Queen Star Butterfly." The two royals strolled into the room with the grace of a pair of ghosts, dressed rather simply for their standing save the crowns, and the sharp gazes of predatory cats.

But when Tea spied the light, but noticeable, pink hearts on Star's cheeks, she gasped in surprise. This of course, got Bakura's attention as he was sitting right next to her, "Is something wrong Tea?"

"What's up?" Joey asked confused. "Guys, look at Queen Butterfly," Tea told them. "Tea just because a much older woman is rocking the mermaid-look better than you is no reason to-" Mai started. "No, look at her _cheeks_ ," Tea hissed tapping her cheek for emphasize, "She has cheek marks, just like Stephanie."

Yugi looked again and gasped in surprise when he noticed, "She's right, they're a different color and shape, but they're cheek marks all the same."

"King Marco has them too," Tristan pointed out eyeing the crescent moons on the older man's cheeks.

"Hey, wait a minute, where is Stephanie anyways?" Tristan asked confused. "Probably chickened out at the last second," Bandit Keith smirked though secretly hoped that wasn't the case. "Shut your trap Keith!" Surprisingly, it was Rex who snapped. "What's the problem with you?" Bandit Keith egged him on, "Did I insult your little pink crush?"

Now Rex was livid, no longer caring for the presence of royalty as he shouted, "I don't have a crush on her!"

"Miss Quartz-Universe had some business to attend to with Master Pegasus," Croquet informed politely pulling out chairs for Star and Marco. "Thank you Croquet," Star smiled kindly. "Your Highness," Croquet replied with a respectful bow, "They should be here soon."

"This Quartz-Universe is one of the finalists, I'm assuming," Marco mused. "Correct, Your Majesty," Croquet answered before the doors opened, everyone turned and Yugi and Yami's jaws fell open.

While the gown was beautiful in its own right, it was the way it accented and brought out Stephanie's preexisting beauty that really drew in the tri-haired duelist and spirit's eyes. Yugi almost tripped over himself in an almost mad dash across the room, much to even Marco and Star's amusement.

However, that amusement short lived when Star really got a good look at the new arrival and her eyes widened in shock. "Marco...Marco her cheeks..." Star whispered to her husband and best friend. "Star it could just be make-up or those water-base tattoos Lilith was telling us about," Marco whispered back gently. "But Marco look at her eyes, those are _Mari's_ eyes!" Star insisted making Marco tense.

"You look...amazing!" Yugi flushed as she smiled shyly. "Thanks," Stephanie said blushing.

"What's were ya thinkin' Steph?" Joey asked standing from his seat, "Confrontin' Pegasus all be yerself!"

"I had to get someone," Stephanie shrugged before stepping aside and moving her overly flooffy skirt to reveal Mokuba, who she had put in a suit so he wouldn't stand out like a sore thumb including a crimson bowtie and had managed to pull his hair back into a bushy ponytail with a red and black-ladybug-spotted hairtie.

" _Aniki!_ " Mokuba exclaimed rushing towards his brother when he spotted him and the ever present Maisie perched on his shoulder, "Maisie!"

"Mokuba!" The two exclaimed, Seto nearly knocking his chair onto its back with how quick he got up before he met his brother half way there and pulled him into a tight hug, making everyone save for Bandit Keith to smile, while the American finalist just pretended to gag. "You're alright!" Maisie buzzed happily as she flew around the brothers, "But-but how?"

"How did you get Pegasus to let him go?" Yugi asked softly. "I may have convinced him he'd get a better duel out of Kaiba if he didn't have the constant weight of his little brother's well-being on his mind," Stephanie replied with a smile as she took Yugi's offered arm to guide her to the table. "You never cease to amaze me, you know that?" Yugi chuckled making her blush a little, before smirking. "Its a gift!" She chirped playfully tapping his cheek, now it was Yugi's turn to blush as he pulled out the chair for her, not failing to notice how she tensed a bit, seeing how she was now seated between him and Bandit Keith.

"Nice outfit Pinkie," Bandit Keith smirked down at her, making her flinch away from him, "Hey now, why so tense?" Yugi frowned, feeling there something more than what he's seeing.

"Now normally in my experience, the surprises usually happen before or after dinner," Mai commented as Seto sat with Mokuba on his lap, having no other chairs available, not that Mokuba was complaining as he burrowed his face into his big brother's chest. "I think its kinda touching," Dorothy smiled. "A truly touch-warming moment, no doubt," Mako agreed. "Good to see you're alright Pebble," Jasper said to Mokuba with a smile across the table, gaining a sweet smile from Mokuba in response.

"Now before we begin with dinner, I trust all of our finalists have their qualification cards," Croquet suddenly said getting everyone's attention, upon noticing their confused expressions, he elaborated, "With your invitations to the Duelist Kingdom Tournament you should have each received two cards; the Glory of the King's Left Hand and the Glory to the King's Opposite Hand, you will need one of these cards in order to participate in the finals; anyone without one either will be disqualified."

 _'No way!'_ Joey thought with wide eyes, but calmed down, _'Good thing Yug' gave me one of his.'_

 _'Of all the cards I don't have, I run across the two I don't,'_ Bandit Keith thought scowling, but forced himself to calm down, _'I'll just have to steal one.'_

"Glory to the King's Left Hand allows the duelist claim to the three million dollar prize money," Croquet explained further, "While the Glory to the King's Opposite Hand allows the duelist the right to face Master Pegasus for the Championship," He then motioned to the two pro-brunette duelists, "Mr. Kaiba and Mr. Raptor are excluded from this as Master Pegasus is keen to see them duel and both had made it into the top three of all their official tournaments and events in the last five years."

"Lucky you two," Tristan commented to the two brunettes, who ignored him.

"Of all the time to be..." Croquet muttered looking at his watch, "Where is that Sheppard?" He his answer came when the doors were opened, crashing the pair of Holo-Pearls to poof when they got crushed by the resounding thud, making everyone wince as the whitish-blue smoke seeped from the door cracks.

"Here, I'm here!" A young boy huffed as he hurried pushed in a long trolley full of trays, "Sorry, so sorry!" He was reasonably tall, somewhere between Joey and Bakura's height with a lean build, dressed informally in a long-sleeved white button up with a red necktie, black slacks and an apron tied around his waist with a pair of black dress shoes. He had dark blackish-brown hair and equally dark brown eyes.

Croquet sighed, shaking his head, apparently well-used to this sort of thing as the boy finally came to a stop by the table, panting a little.

"Let me guess," Croquet said in a rather rhetorical tone of voice, "Got lost again?" The boy blushed fiercely as Bandit Keith snickered, "Honestly Sheppard, you've been working here how long?"

"Sorry Mr. Croquet, it won't happen again, I swear!" The boy, Sheppard, apologized profusely, bowing repeatedly, making the girls all giggle. "Sheppard, the food," Croquet reminded him motioning towards the waiting guests. "Err! Right!" Sheppard jumped to do his task, he then bowed to Marco and Star as he placed bejeweled trays before them, "You're Majesties, Master Pegasus hopes you enjoy specially requested; quesadillas." He lifted the lids to reveal the slight steaming, clearly fresh off the stove, Spanish dish.

Marco hummed in approval, while Star quietly squealed in delight, "We haven't had these in ages!"

Sheppard sighed in relief before beginning to place the following trays down before the others, though he did pause when he noticed Leon had trouble seeing over the table. He knelt down and got out a stack of books, lifting Leon up so he could sit on them, allowing him to see. "Thank you!" Leon smiled happily, making Sheppard grin in return. When he reached Dorothy, she smiled at him, "Thank you!" To which he blushed darkly, before setting two plates before the Kaiba brothers.

Despite all the dishes being soup with small loafs of bread and roasted potatoes and carrots as the side dish, Stephanie and Yugi noticed how all the lids for the finalists had a more fancy design, while the others were more plain. Theirs didn't have jewels like Marco and Star's, but it was still a notable difference.

"That'll be all Sheppard," Croquet said to the boy, who bowed and left, "And to make things more interesting for tomorrow, your host as added a special ingredient to your soups."

Yugi, Stephanie, Seto, Leon, Mai, Bandit Keith, Mako, Rex, Dorothy and Joey all looked down in surprise as replicas of the Millennium Eye suddenly surfaced in their soups. Leon squealed in shock, jumping right into Bakura, nearly knocking him and his chair onto the floor, "There's eyes in our soup!"

"That's disgusting!" Peridot said using a spoon to carefully search hers with her powers, refusing to touch the bowl until she was satisfied with her search. "Ew!" Tea shivered in disgust as Joey fished his out. "I think its looking at me!" Lapis said mildly freaked out. "Mine's eyeball free," Tristan reported after checking his.

"I see Maxie still has his sense of humor," Star commented with a smirk, though Marco also looked a little freaked out, thought not nearly as badly as the others. Marco shot his wife a look, "I blame you introducing him to Tom."

Star just pinched her husband's cheek, sing-songing, "What can I say except, you're welcome~!" Catching the quote, Stephanie couldn't help snorting.

"What are these for?" Mokuba asked curiously as he watch Seto and the other finalists twist them open to reveal square pieces of paper with big block letters on them.

They were all capital letters; Yugi has 'A', Mai had 'B', Keith had 'C', Joey had 'D', Dorothy had 'E', Leon had 'F', Mako had 'G', Stephanie had 'H', Seto had 'I' and Rex had 'J', written in thick periwinkle blue ink.

"Now the island's computer shall assign the match-ups for the first round of the finals," Croquet announced as a screen descended, making them all crane to look as the match-up blocks began to randomly choose between the available letters, before setting them in order, "First Duelist A will face Duelist B, then Duelist C will have off against D, the next day Duelist G will face Duelist E and Duelist F will face off against Duelist H; the winners of those four duels will move on to the next round the day after that."

"Alright, who has C? Who has C!" Joey demanded leaping to his feet, glowering as Bandit Keith revealed he had it, "Alright sleeze-bag, I'm gonna make ya pay for trappin' us in that cave!"

"Think what you want punk," Bandit Keith said arrogantly, carefully moving his arm back so he can lift up Stephanie's skirts without no one noticing, making her bite back a startled squeak, body tensing when she felt a horrifyingly familiar touch on her thigh, "When it comes to dueling you've got no chance against me."

"You okay Steph?" Tea asked in concern. "Fine!" Stephanie said forcing a calm smile, "Just fine!" But on the inside, she was screaming, _'Not again, not again, not again, not again, not again; don't touch me again!'_

"So its decided, tomorrow Yugi Muto will face Mai Valentine, then Joey Wheeler will duel Bandit Keith," Croquet announced, "The following day Mako Tsunami will duel Dorothy Hale and Leon von Schroeder will duel Stephanie Lily Quartz-Universe; the winners of those duels will then move on to the next round."

 _'Me vs Leon?'_ Stephanie thought in surprise. "Yes, I get Miss Pink!" Leon cheered making many chuckle, though Stephanie tensed further when she felt Keith's hand start to rub her thigh under her dress. "I look forward to a formidable duel!" Mako grinned at Dorothy, who grinned back. "Count on it, my Gladiators will make sushi out of your fish!" Dorothy said excitedly. "Just try it!" Mako said in challenge. "Just watch me!" Dorothy retorted.

"Children, please, save it for the duel," Pegasus chuckled as he made his entrance along side Pearl, Keith was quick to withdraw his hand, much to Stephanie's relief.

Bakura felt his breath escape him as he took in the beautiful Gem next to the older CEO, his cheeks heating up as his eyes locked with her turquoise ones.

His spirit was equally stunned, questioning in shock, _'Pearl?'_

Pearl's eyes widened in shocked-recognition as she stared back, _'Akifa? But it can't be!'_

"Pearl..." Stephanie whispered longingly. "Maxie," Star greeted as she and Marco stood to greet the silver haired man. " _Madre*_ Star, _Padre**_ Marco," Pegasus greeted with a genuinely happy, thought bittersweet smile, "Its been a while." He surprised everyone by casually hugging the King and Queen. "You've gotten taller," Marco joked. "You say that every time," Pegasus said humorously with a fond roll of his visible eye.

"Did we miss something?" Bismuth questioned making everyone else shrug before they all sat down to eat. "I recall an article once that said Pegasus used to be close friends with the King and Queen Butterflies' children; they're two daughters and son."

"Is Shadow here?" Star asked hopefully. Pegasus expression fell before he slowly shook his head and the Queen's expression fell, prompting a comforting one-armed hug from Marco. "Did he contact you at all recently?" Marco asked.

"Not...exactly..." Pegasus admitted before ushering them back into their seats. "What is that suppose to mean?" Star asked but sighed when Pegasus simply began to dig into his own food.

After finishing the meal and Sheppard returned to collect the dishes, Pegasus held up a hand when a few started to stand, "I'm afraid I haven't been very forth-coming with you, Star, Marco."

Both royals stood at this as Joey muttered, "Big surprise." Prompting Lapis to shush him.

"But you said-" Star began. "I said dear Gregorio isn't here," Pegasus assured making Stephanie tense up, "But his daughter is."

Both royals gaped in shock, "...what?!"

 _(Beach City)_

Vidalia had snuck out the Sun Incinerator, using a back entrance she had found after bribing Rhodonite with kitten and puppy pictures, easily climbing over the strange wall of ice that surrounded the ship from all sides in the Big Guns' conjoined blind spot as not to get shot at. She knew it was stupid and reckless, sneaking out when there were clearly people looking to probably kidnap them for leverage against Stephanie, especially after seeing what Priyanka was stubbornly claiming to be a shared hallucination of Greg, but she knew better.

She had seen for herself first hand just what Greg was truly capable of when he was taking both gloves off. She knew better than to question what she had seen. So she knew if an image of her friend was telling her to get his notebook, she knew she had to get that damned notebook.

Vidalia had been careful too, avoiding cameras out of fear of someone on the ship seeing her and panicking, namely Sour Cream. She didn't know where that wall had come from, but a part of her was afraid to really ask even herself about it, and another part of her couldn't help thinking it had something to do with young Lars' sudden strange behavior.

When she finally got to the car wash, she was relieved to find the truck untouched, left out of view from any of the car wash's security cameras out of Greg's need for privacy. Vidalia fished out the spare keys Greg had given her and unlocked it as quickly and as quietly as manually possible before crawling in. Which was when she found herself in a problem.

Greg, despite being retired as a musician, still had dozens of notebooks, all filled with all sorts of things; music sheets and song lyrics, of course, despite being retired he was still a passionate musician at heart, various random notes, even, to Vidalia's heart-ache, letters Greg had written to Rose after Stephanie's birth, possibly his way to grieve. She stopped herself halfway through the first one, feeling as if she were intruding or tainting something scared.

Her problem was telling just which notebook it was that Greg had wanted her to get. Then she remembered. He had drawn a butterfly in the fogged wall, a clue perhaps. But none of these notebooks had a butterfly symbol on them, they were all rather plain, save for the ones with Rose's letters, those had a large pink diamond-shaped emblem on them. She tried checking for hiding places, maybe he hid it because it held valuable information he didn't want the wrong people getting.

Nothing in the glove compartment or under the seats, so she checked the mini-trunk of sorts he kept to the side. What she found was a bunch of old memorabilia or maybe just a random assortment of knickknacks; an old worn red hoodie that was much too small for Greg and it didn't look like it would fit Stephanie, an equally worn looking cape with an assortment of images sewn onto the back like a coat of arms of sorts, a pair of strange dolls of a boy and girl; the boy wearing what looked a lot like the red hoodie, black buttons for eyes and short brown hair and the girl had a blue dress, long blonde hair and blue buttons for eyes. Her eyes widened when she found the rather rusty looking, but sharp-none-the-less, sword near the bottom, and sure enough, a simple greenish-blue notebook with a big orange butterfly emblem on the cover.

She held it to her chest in a small sense of relief before sneaking back into the Sun Incinerator, Priyanka had joined the others in the control room, so she was alone with Greg's body and his spirit in the wall in the side room. Vidalia gave mischievous spirit of her friend a look as she asked, "Now what?" She watched as he fogged the glass again and wrote out a message for her:

 _Turn to the tenth page and read the poem near the middle, the rest will work itself out_

"Seriously?" Vidalia asked in disbelief and he just shrugged, Vidalia sighed before flipping through the pages until she got to the one he had described, taking a breath, she recited the poem he pointed out:

 _From whence you hid, come to light_

 _Aid your heiress in her plight,_

 _Lend your strength and our ancestors' wisdom_

 _And give my daughter freedom,_

Vidalia yelped in alarm when Greg's body began to glow a bright orange, making his spirit chuckle before vanishing.

 _(Realm of Magic, New Butterfly Castle)_

When Vidalia's image began to distort, Greg quickly turned on his heel to avoid looking into the mirror as the harsh whispers returned to his ears and briskly left the room. He couldn't help chuckling, "Hope you're prepared to reap what you sow, Maxie." He whistled to himself was he headed back to the gazebo.

 _(Duelist Kingdom)_

"Daughter?" Star repeated in disbelief. "We have a grandchild?" Marco gasped in shock.

"You two don't know that ya have a granddaughter?" Joey asked skeptically, earning a jab to the ribs from both Lapis and Tea. "Their son disappeared over twenty years ago," Tea informed in a stern voice. "Well, how was I suppose to know?" Joey asked.

"Maximillion James Pegasus," Star said looking like she was about to explode but with what was hard to tell, "This better not be some sick joke."

"You know I don't joke about this sort of thing Star," Pegasus reassured feigning hurt, "I'm almost offended you'd think otherwise," Both royals gave him a stern look, but he simply turned away from them, instead asking, "Tell me, Miss Quartz-Universe," Stephanie looked over in surprise as she wiped her mouth with a napkin, "What did you say your father's name was again? I do believe Greg was short for something."

Seto's eyes widened in realization, remembering two different names the three adults had used.

"Gregory, Gregory Comet Universe," Stephanie answered making Star's eyes widen. "Sweetie...Stephanie, was it?" Marco said hesitantly, making the girl nod, "Tell me...are you sure it wasn't short for...maybe...Gregorio?"

"I...I honestly don't know...dad never really talked much about his family," Stephanie admitted with a shrug, "Just that they didn't approve of him pursuing a musical career." Both the King and Queen winced in response.

"Wait a minute..." Tea said with wide eyes as she looked between Star and Stephanie. "No way!" Tristan said also catching on, shocked. "What?" The Gems said in confusion.

Everyone tensed as Pegasus walked up behind Stephanie, placing his hands on her shoulders and smiled, "Star, Marco, allow me to introduce you to Stephanie Lily Quartz-Butterfly, daughter of Gregorio 'Shadow' Comet Butterfly."

Stephanie felt her heart-stop, eyes wide in shock.

"WHAT?" Everyone else yelled in shock. "Stephanie's a Butterfly?" Joey asked in shock. A bang made everyone look over at Bandit Keith, who held his knee from banging it on the table in his haste to stand, "You mean to tell me that bitch is an actual princess?"

"What did you just call her?" Rex demanded getting to his feet. "Miss Pink is a real Princess?" Leon asked as he and Mokuba looked at Stephanie with wide, awe-filled eyes.

"My father's name is Gregory Universe!" Stephanie protested, "I'm not-there's just no way!"

"Aren't you curious how you have those marks on your cheeks though?" Pegasus asked, "Its a stated fact that cheek marks are genetically passed from Butterfly to Butterfly from having magic itself so deeply ingrained into their very genes, so how else could you have them unless..."

Stephanie gently touched her rose marks, but shook her head, "But my dad doesn't have any..."

"Doesn't he?" Pegasus prompted, "I do believe there is a way to suppress one's magic enough for even a Butterfly to appear normal by hiding their marks."

"Its how no one knew Meteroa was a Butterfly for years," Star whispered as she took touched her own cheek marks.

"But..." Stephanie said uncertainly. "Not this magic talk," Seto muttered. "But Seto its the truth!" Mokuba said much to everyone's surprise. "Mokuba?" Seto questioned.

"When Pegasus took my soul I met someone who called himself Gregorio but also said I could call him Shadow," Mokuba explained much to Star and Marco's shock, "He took me to a place called New Butterfly Castle in the Realm of Magic and he said that only the Butterfly family have cheek marks."

"Mokuba, what did this guy look like?" Peridot asked. "Really long dark brown hair and dark brown eyes," Mokuba answered, "And he was Latino, like King Marco, but he had cheek marks like Queen Star."

Star's heart leap, "Were they orange music notes?"

Mokuba nodded and Stephanie held her locket for a moment before taking it off and opened it, drawing everyone's attention to it as the song inside began to play. The humans all gasped in awe as the holograms formed, while Marco and Star covered their mouths, tears prickling their eyes as they stared.

"That's him!" Mokuba said pointing, "But a little taller!"

Stephanie stood up and walked up to the King and Queen as everyone watched with baited breath. Stephanie took a breath to steal her nerves before looking up nervously to meet their teary gazes.

"Are you...really...my-my grandparents...?" Stephanie asked in a small voice. " _Si, nieta*_ ," Marco smiled through his tears. Star gently placed a hand on her granddaughter's cheek and Stephanie couldn't help but smile a little as she felt the warm feeling that filled her as her and Star's cheek marks gave off small glows and in that moment, she knew, she had only ever felt this with one other person.

Stephanie wrapped her arms around her grandmother's neck, unable to help her own tears of happiness. Star was a blubbering mess as she returned the hug, falling to her knees as she held the girl tight, as if afraid she'd disappear if she didn't hold onto her. Marco smiled as well as he knelt down and held both close, for the first time in a while, his family began to feel complete again.

The others couldn't help smiling at the reunion, save for Bandit Keith, who currently wasn't believing what he was seeing or hearing. Pearl, however, frowned a bit and looked away, wishing she could truly feel better about the reunion, but couldn't help but feel ultimately left out.

From a doorway, Glossyarck couldn't help smiling, also finding the scene touching, knowing the reunion was bound to happen at some point, didn't mean it wasn't heart-pulling. He smiled more softly upon seeing a presence behind him and remarked, "Looks like you weren't wrong about this being the start of the healing they needed."

The spirit of Cecilia 'Nimbussia' Diaz-Butterfly-Pegasus couldn't help smiling as well as she watched her niece and parents finally met after fourteen years of ignorance. Perhaps this tournament really was a blessing in disguise. Now if only Winona were here with them...

* * *

 **Whew! I am ending it there because this was getting a little winded, but not for no good reason. I really had to figure out how to get the reveal that Greg Universe and Gregorio 'Shadow' Butterfly are the same person, making Stephanie a Butterfly herself into a sensible light, which I like to thing I just managed to pull off, I find it worth it for the first meeting between Marco and Star and their granddaughter, to follow to Cecilia's ghost reveal and that is apparently another Butterfly missing...Winona...;P!**

 **Anyways, was it necessary to dress everyone up in suits and fancy dresses and gowns? No, not really, but in my own defense, how often to these guys get to be in the presence of a royal? Much less a pair of them? Not often, if you don't could Yami/Atem and Primrose, seeing as they are technically long dead and their empire long gone. Would you pass up the chance to dress up for the chance to impress royalty? I sure wouldn't...plus I just wanted to put Bismuth and Jasper in dresses and Stephanie in an actual gown_!**

 **Also, Mako and Rex have made it into the finals and so has Dorothy, yeah, I just had to put her in there and I'm going to award big mega brownie points to whoever can guess the little foreshadow or reference or whatever ya wanna call it I'm doing with her and our servant boy Sheppard! I'm guessing you guys are never going to guess!**

 **Now with that all out of the way, I only got one *note this time, so I'm just going to go on with it now before I forget:**

 _ **Nieta*:**_ **This is the Spanish term for granddaughter and what with Marco being, well, Marco, in the best way I can put it without being racist. Seriously I am no racist in anyway. I figured, why not?**

 **Yeah, our polls are the same as the last chapter, so if you want to know, just check the last chapter.**

 **Also, in the Foreign God Card poll, Mayan is once again in the lead by one vote with Greek, Norse and Roman tied together for second and Mesopotamian is behind by, again, one vote. You people really seem to like the idea of Mayan God Cards.**

 **Anyways, I hope you guys like this chapter! Till the next one everyone!**


	26. Chapter 26

**In fear of sounding like a broken record: I do not own Steven Universe or any of its original characters nor do I own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of its original characters, I can say, however, that I do own Stephanie, her yami, Primrose, and all OCs I chose to make, including original Crystal Beasts, i.e. Bismuth Beaver, Crystal Myths, i.e: Garnet Mother Time, and other original cards. If I _did_ own Steven Universe, trust me, things would've been a lot different and if I own Yu-Gi-Oh there would've been a way for Atem to stay and have all his memories.**

 **Solartiger: Glad to know you're still enjoying this fic!**

 **foxchick1: Happy to know the reunion paid-off! Though, which spell are you talking about? I'm going to assume you mean the one Vidalia read aloud, think of it as a fail-safe that Greg created after learning of all the times he's heard of how his mother or others lost the wand, so if he hid it somewhere he can either bring it to his hand faster should he need it or finally pass it on to Stephanie in her time of need. Ah, read this chapter to see what I mean.**

 **Lady Twilight Prime: BAH HA HA HA! Frozen salmon, there's a new one! Girl, plz don't ever change, ya hear? Anyways, glad you like the reunion, I was afraid I might've over simplified it or over-complicated things. As for Sapphy and Ruby, well, they're lives for the last ten and a half years was that little girl, how do you image they must be feeling, forced to ignore her in favor of not forcing her to watch them get shocked? As for Amethyst...well...wait and see. Stephanie never struck me as the type to leave someone in distress, save for Panick, but hey, its Panick, so it seemed in character for her and yeah, I liked to think those reactions were pretty spot on I like to think. Now as for the theory, let me ask you something: we know Marco and Star have two kids, Greg and Cecilia...but are those they're _only_ children? After all, Greg Universe isn't the _only_ Greg in the Cartoon Network universe, hint: check out the Steven Universe theories over on ChannelFrederator over on Youtube. Oh and, can you add another for me for having me write that shrivel?**

 **PS Lady Twilight Prime: Yeah...you're probably going to hate me for the start of this one; all I have to say is...DON'T SICK THE DEMON DOGS ON ME! KEITH MADE WRITING THIS SORT OF THING INVOLVING HIM TOO EASY! *Hides behind Stephanie and Yugi***

 **Oh and before I forget:**

 **WARNING! SEXUAL AND NORMAL VIOLENCE! JUST IN THE BEGINNING! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! WARNING!**

 **You have been warned.**

 **Anywho! Let's get on with the chapter, shall we?**

* * *

Morning finally broke over Duelist Kingdom and Stephanie rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, pulling the covers off as her memories finally caught up with her as she caught sight of her lavender ball gown lying on her desk chair. _'I still can't believe that happened last night,'_ Stephanie thought as she placed the Millennium Earrings back on after fixing her sheets out of habit, _'It all still feels like a dream; a really strange, very out-there, but all-so-real dream.'_

As she changed into a pair of cherry blossom pink caprice pants, Primrose was sitting on her desk, a slightly amused smile pulling on her lips at the dazed expression on her lighter half's face, _**'Your father's real name is Gregorio and his parents are the king and queen of a small, recent kingdom, making you a princess by default and direct relation, trust me it was real.'**_

 _'Just when I thought my family couldn't get any more deceptive, secretive or any more complex,'_ Stephanie thought with a sigh before pulling on an open-sleeved, tango-pink button-up blouse that had her family's signature butter-yellow star on the front, _'I find out this from Pegasus of all people! No wonder mom and dad hit off...'_

 ** _'Hey now,'_** Primrose slid off the desk, _**'There are many different reasons why mom or dad kept these sorts of things to themselves; did you really think you could handle the truth about the war and Pink Diamond from the start?'**_ Stephanie sat down and began to shuffle through her cards, _**'I know it hurts finding out the mother you've been told your whole life was a hero did a really horrific thing or that the father you've known to be a very humble former musician is actually a prince who decided he wanted more out of his life, does that really change the fact they love you?'**_

Stephanie finally stopped and sighed, _'Deep down, no, but in the long run? It hurts; how am I suppose to save everyone when they won't trust me with things that can help?'_

She placed her deck in her the pack-holder attached to her pinkish-lavender belt and slipped on a pair of brink pink strapped sandals with matching yellow stars on the straps and then placed her locket around her neck. She then unbuttoned the bottom button to give her gem the comfort of not having constricting cloth over it. She looked into the full-length mirror in the room and smiled, satisfied with her appearance.

Opening the door, Stephanie stepped out and was about to start down the hall, only to freeze as a voice said in amusement, "Well, lookie what I found," She slowly turned her head to find none-other-than Bandit Keith smirking at her, and the hall was completely empty, not a Gem or other human in sight, "If it isn't little Miss Pink Butterfly Muffet, miss me?"

 _'Of all the times to be alone,'_ Stephanie thought with wide, alarmed eyes, she turned and started to make a break for it.

She barely got a few steps when Bandit Keith grabbed her by the arms and pushed her up against the wall making her shout, only for one of his hands to clamp over her mouth to muffle the sounds before she had a chance to scream. "Careful there _Princess_ ," Bandit Keith smirked darkly at her, making her shudder at the way the usually endearing nickname was used, "Wouldn't want someone to come along and see this, would you? Especially your dear old Gramps and Granny!"

Stephanie's eyes widened further at the idea of her newly found grandparents walking in on a scene like this. She wasn't as naive as she led others to believe; she knew exactly how a fourteen-year-old girl being pressed up against a wall by an older man can be interpreted. Unfortunately, as much as she wanted to believe the best in others, she had no idea how Marco or Star would take seeing this. For one thing it could give them a heart-attack and on another hand, they didn't know her all that well did they? How would it make them see her?

"Whoops," Bandit Keith snickered harshly pulling down on the middle of her blouse, ripping out the buttons, forcing it open and revealing her bright yellow, lacy bra, turning her face tomato red with shame, "Careless me, nice color though, better then white." He felt his mouth water slightly at the ample cleavage before him before taking a generous amount in his now free hand and knead the tender flesh through the thin yellow material.

Stephanie squeaked and bit her lip to keep her voice in at the rough treatment. Tears welled up in her eyes as she squirmed in his hold, shivering in disgust at his breath on her neck as he puffed between wet licks to her neck. She lashed her leg out, hoping to catch him in the knee (or groin) to get him off her, but the hand disappeared from her chest to catch her by the shin.

Watery caramel eyes stared up with wide alarm as she was further pinned and trapped as he lifted her leg up to catch her ankle on his shoulder, he grinned at her with shark-like teeth, "Nice try, but I've seen how hard you can hit, so I can guess how hard you can kick!"

 _ **'Oh hell no, not this again!'**_ Primrose shouted despite the fact only Stephanie could see or hear her, _**'The graveyard I can excuse with shock, dinner was a low blow, but this, oh hell no!'**_ She tried to forcibly switch with Stephanie, but to her shock was met with resistance, _**'Stephanie Lily Quartz-Universe, let me help! Gods only knows how far he'll go!'**_

 _'No!'_ Stephanie shook her head, biting back a shriek and a scream as he started to roughly grope one of her breasts, _'You nearly killed Mai and you just might kill him here! I'm not a killer! I'm not a killer!'_ Primrose recoiled from the mental mantra and realized perhaps she took her early temper with Mai a little too far.

They were both unaware to how their gemstone began to glow with a deep reddish hue, but rather than pulse outward, the energy pulsed inward.

 _(Beach City, Rose's Armory)_

He was never to sure of what to make of his existence ever after his Queen passed on. Ever since he was a cub he knew instinctively he was different, all the other cubs in his generation were all a light tawny color or a rare sandy, he had always been pink. His mother had said it was an honor, to be gifted from their Queen. Since then, he took his duty to her seriously, but that fell short when she brought his Princess into the world.

Since he returned into his Princess' life, he had fully expected to be aiding her against what monsters his Queen had left, help her explore the world like his Queen had helped him see it. He fully expected to help groom her into the Queen he knew she would be one day.

What he didn't expect was to be hiding in his Queen's war room from annoying humans who think that just because he ran on all fours and ate things that still moved he would be a dumb, easy animal for them to catch. He will never be more thankful that his Queen chose the King that she did, because he would have never forgiven her for choosing such poor hunters.

His spine straightened with an all too familiar feeling and he instinctively ground his teeth together, growling low in his throat. He knew this sensation all too well and the growing fear and panic building up in his chest only fueled his anger. It was times like this he still can't make up his mind when he wished whether or not his Queen had given him some kind of mind-link ability.

 _(Different Part of the Castle)_

Everyone was gathered out in a hall with Sapphire and two Holo-Pearls standing guard at the doors that led to the Duel Arena, waiting for the two missing Finalists. Everyone was back in more casual clothing, the Japanese teens were back in their usual clothes. Mai had changed into a lacy white tank with butterfly-sleeves and royal purple caprice with her usual purple jacket and platform boots. Mako was still going shirtless under a dark blue vest with his tooth and bead necklace and bandanna and dark brown shorts and sandals. Leon was back in his own normal clothes and so was Rex. Dorothy wore a teal tank and a dark blue skort with a pair of knee-long stockings and sea-green slip-on sandals.

"Where the he-ck are Stephanie 'n' Keith?" Joey questioned looking down the hall for the missing two duelists, barely catching himself as he remembered the unofficial rule to note curse in front of Mokuba and Leon. "Is it normal for humans to be this off in punctuality?" Jasper asked.

"I don't know about Bandit Keith," Mako said arms crossed, brows pinched in serious contemplation, "But Miss Quartz-Universe never struck me as the type to be this tarty."

"Same, plus, did anyone else catch on to how...uncomfortable she sitting next to Keith?" Rex asked. "You mean how she tensed up like someone put a rattlesnake in her lap?" Mai asked also sarcastically, but no one could miss how concerned she looked. "Even I noticed how she wanted to be anywhere but there," Mokuba admitted from where he was sitting on the ground playing a normal card game with Leon as they waited.

Sapphire looked to the side from where she stood, hands clasped, but her mouth was pulled into a tight line. She was really tempted to use her future vision, but didn't want to subject Mokuba and Leon to seeing her shocked into poofing. It was traumatic enough when Stephanie first experienced poofing, she can't image how two little pebbles, especially one as young as Leon, would take it.

"She was pretty tense next to him during the graveyard duel," Lapis commented. "Yeah, but he did hit her, remember," Joey pointed causing Mako, Mai and Rex to nearly fall over from shock, while Sapphire tensed. "He did WHAT?" The other finalists asked in shock as Mokuba and Leon stared at the blonde with wide eyes. "There's clearly more to this then any of us are seeing," Yugi admitted a thoughtful expression on his face, clearly favoring thinking on the topic at hand then the reaction.

Sapphire glanced down at her collar, but it didn't give a warning buzz, so she went ahead with her future vision to see what was going on...

"Mr. Wheeler," Sapphire suddenly said making everyone jump, Leon throwing his cards into the air, at the dark underlying tone in her normally completely monotone voice, "Do you mind checking on Miss Quartz-Universe? Mr... _Keith_ ," They all flinched at how she practically spat out the older blonde male's name, as if it were poison, "Will be along shortly." They all shivered as the temperature started to plummet around them, call Rex crazy, but he was pretty sure he was starting to see his breath in the air.

Not wanting to mess with one of the 'women' who raised a girl who almost kicked him into unconsciousness and nearly punched Kaiba through a brick parapet, Joey nodded rapidly before high-tailing it out of the hall. "Excuse me," Sapphire said suddenly walking off, calmly, no one dared stopped or followed her.

Sapphire closed the door of the little nearby closet she stepped into, taking the time to take in everything around her after leisurely closing the door before taking a deep-breath...and letting out an murderous, blood-curdling and utterly enraged scream.

Slamming her foot down hard as her powers went into hyper-dive, sending sheets of ice everywhere, covering and coating everything, Sapphire pulled at her hair. Hearing the scream made the rest of the group jump, even the Holo-Pearls were startled, especially as ice started to seep out from the cracks of the door followed shortly by a very murderous cry of, "I'M GOING TO DEEP-FREEZE HIM!"

"Is she normally like...that...?" Tea whispered to Peridot, who shook her head.

"SCREW WHAT ROSE SAID WHEN I'M OUT OF THIS MOTHER-FUCKING COLLAR I'M GOING TO IMPALE HIM WITH ICICLES, CUT OFF HIS MANHOOD AND MAKE HIM EAT IT WHILE I CARVE OUT HIS HEART, ASSUMING HE EVEN HAS ONE!" Sapphire continued to scream and cuss, making all the males turn ghostly pale, save for Leon and Mokuba, who just looked confused and scared, as they heard things getting broken and crashing about, "THEN I'M GOING TO BURY HIM IN AN AVALANCHE AND SO HELP ME IF I FIND SO MUCH AS A HAIR MISSING FROM HER HEAD I'M GONNA SHOVE AN ICICLE SO FAR UP HIS ASS ITS GOING TO BE EXITING OUT HIS MOUTH!"

"..." It was silent for a full five minutes, until Maisie spoke up, "I like her." Making everyone else look at the robot, wondering if she was loose a screw.

They looked over as the door opened and Sapphire stepped out, once again the perfect picture of calm, but they all wisely stepped out of her way as she walked over and resumed her place by the door. Sapphire blew at her bangs in her only outward display of her remaining frustrations.

"Man and I thought Stephanie was scary," Tristan said, clinging to Bismuth, who chuckled a little, now remembering why she was always so wary around Sapphire whenever Garnet unfused for some reason or another.

 _(Meanwhile)_

"St...stop...stop it...!" Stephanie hiccuped as she squirmed against Bandit Keith, cheeks a deep reddish-pink at this point and her vision started to blur, she gasped in shock as his hand traveled down into her pants and gave a careless pull, until the entire crotch area ripped off, "Don't!"

"What th-! GET OFF HER YA SICK PERV!" A familiar voice yelled viciously, making her snap her head over with wide, horrified, yet slightly relieved eyes to see Joey, Bandit Keith glared over at the younger blonde. "Stay out of this punk!" Bandit Keith snapped, "She came onto me!" Stephanie shook her head violently.

"As if!" Joey snapped back speeding over without a second thought, delivering a well-placed right-hook to Bandit Keith's face before the blonde had a chance to react, knocking him back and sending Stephanie to the floor. She quickly tried to pull her blouse closed, but with the lack of buttons there wasn't much she could do.

"Touch her again 'n' I'll do a lot more than knock a tooth out!" Joey threatened as Bandit Keith spat out a bloody tooth, which had been knocked out from the force of his punch. "Just try that again, punk," Bandit Keith said in a dangerous tone that made Stephanie flinch in on herself, "I dare you."

"Gladly, ya fuckin' sick prick!" Joey snarled without thinking and lunged again, only this time, Keith was prepared. Bandit Keith moved just at the right time so Joey didn't have much time to react as Bandit Keith grabbed his outstretched arm and twisted before slamming his knee into Joey's gut, making him gasp out for air before collapsing to the ground, much to Stephanie's alarmed-horror, "JOEY!"

"So much for your dramatic rescue," Bandit Keith laughed before smirking cruelly at Stephanie, "Now look what you've made me do, Princess," She flinched at the nickname, "I told you, if you made a sound someone would see us and look what happened," He knelt slightly so he could grab a dazed Joey by the coat collar, relishing in the panicked and alarm expression on Stephanie's face, "Maybe a little demonstration is needed so you'll follow the rules better." With that said, he pulled his fist back as Joey began to get his bearings back, only for his vision to blur as Keith landed a hard blow to his face point blank.

"NO!" Stephanie yelled in horror, "Stop, don't hurt him!" But Bandit Keith just laughed as he continued to beat Joey, who tried to punch back, but the older blonde easily twisted his wrist until it snapped, Stephanie covered her ears at the pained yell Joey gave at that, only for him to be immediately winded when Bandit Keith kicked him in the gut.

 ** _'Gods...'_** Primrose whispered in horror. _'Stop...stop...stop...stop...stop...someone make this stop!'_ Stephanie thought, hiccuping and softly sobbing in misery, unable to tear her eyes away as her friend was beaten. She finally closed her eyes, wishing, _'Make this all stop!'_

But then, a familiar pink rippling portal formed and Stephanie's eyes widened as her body started to relax instinctively with relief as a familiar large pink wildcat jumped through, landing gracefully on the smooth marble floor.

Dark amber eyes swept insight-fully and carefully across the new location, brow furrowing as he took in his Princess' state of dress, tear-stained cheeks and red-rimmed eyes, having seen such characteristics when comforting his King. His lips pulled back into an angry snarl as blood filled his nose and his eyes landed on the grown human assaulting the male man-cub on the floor, the gleeful expression on the man's face made deep pink fur bristle and a growl rose from his throat.

Imari*, the Pink Lion, Guardian of Stephanie Quartz-Universe, was **_not_** a happy cat.

Bandit Keith paused when he heard the sudden, strange sound and looked up in surprise, only to be face-to-face with furious dark brown eyes and a teeth-filled snarl of a large pink lion. Joey peered up, dizzily, wondering through his bleary vision if the woman from the graveyard was here.

"What...the...hell...?" Bandit Keith breathed in shock before Lion opened his maw wide with a furious roar right in the man's face, making Bandit Keith scream before scrambling to get away, only to be swiftly pinned by the king predator, wincing at the weight and claws digging easily through his leather vest and thin shirt. He shook as those sharp teeth seemed to get closer and closer.

"Lion!" Stephanie shouted instantly getting the predator's attention, "No biting!" Lion's displeasure as instant as it was obvious, eyes glancing up her shaking frame up and down, "I'm fine!" He didn't look convinced, "Just...just pin him!" Now that Lion could do and he turned back to glare angrily down at the male who clearly tried to harm _**his**_ Princess.

 _"You gotta be kidding me...she has a pet **lion** too?"_ Bandit Keith thought with wide, panicky eyes.

A groan snapped sounded and she immediately remembered her botched rescuer, "Joey!" She quickly rushed to the injured teen as quick as her shaking legs allowed and knelt by him, "Are you alright?" She shook her head, "Never mind, stupid question; can you talk? Where does it hurt?"

"St-st-stomach...mostly..." Joey managed out, "How...long...Keith's...touch...?" He groaned and cut himself off.

"Since the graveyard duel with Bonz," Stephanie admitted gently pulling up his shirt to see the damage and cringed at the forming bruising, "I didn't think we'd see him again, so I didn't say anything," She then licked her hand, "This is going to feel weird." She then pressed the saliva against his stomach, searing it to get the entire bruised area, making Joey shiver in disgust at the cold feeling, knowing what it was.

A soft pink glow assured her the healing was working right, so she moved on to his broken wrist, "Sorry in advance." She then set the bone back into place, making Joey bite his lip to keep from crying out, but sighed in relief as a quick application of Stephanie's healing saliva soothed the pain until there wasn't any, a slight experimental flick of his wrist proved it.

Stephanie gathered what was left of her tears, deciding this would be the better of the two and gently applied it to his bruising face, making Joey shiver, wondering what it was as it felt warmer then the saliva. A gentle prodding as he sat up proved it worked as well as he felt no pain.

She then turned back to where Lion was pining Bandit Keith and called, "Lion, you can get off him now," Lion instantly swirled his head towards, clearly not fond of the idea, "Do you really think he's going to try anything again with you here?" Lion seemed to think about it and she could see her point getting through, but the sudden mischievous glint in his eyes made her wary, "Lion, don't you...!" Joey sat up and his eyes widened as he took in what had previously been the pink blur from before.

Lion turned back to face Bandit Keith before hunching up and squaring his front before leaning down and once again belting a furious roar right in the now terrified blonde's face. Joey yelped and clung onto Stephanie in shock as the sudden sound and its volume, which Stephanie just sighed and pinched her nose, shaking her head in exasperation.

Satisfied, Lion pulled away and calmly padded over to his Princess and her young friend, who flinched and tensed slightly, until Lion made a show off rubbing up against her, purring contently, especially as she scratched behind his ears. Stephanie pulled Lion's face up to look him blandly in the eyes as Bandit Keith took the moment to gather himself, questioning her pink feline, "Was that necessary?" Lion shrugged, licking her face and Stephanie rolled her eyes.

"You have a pet _lion?!_ " Joey asked in shock. "Does it help to say he originally belonged to my mother?" Stephanie asked nervously. "Not really!" Joey replied.

"Don't think just because yer little kitty should up yer safe from me Pinkie," Bandit Keith said trying to cover up his fear and rapidly beating heart, flinching slightly at the warning growl from Lion, he then sneered at Joey, "Count yer blessings punk, cause you'd probably be in the infirmary right now," He then slowly turned to go, relaxing when Lion didn't move to pounce, "Oh, and mention this to anyone, and who knows who I might end up using as meat-shields, kids now a-days are so hard to keep track of." He gave a cruel laugh as the implications sunk in, making Stephanie tense with alarmed-fear, while Joey glared heatedly until he was gone.

"We're so tellin' the others, now," Joey insisted as he got up. "Joey, no!" Stephanie objected immediately. "Steph, he was goin' tah rape ya if I didn't show up!" Joey scolded. "And he's going to hurt Mokuba and Leon if we talk!" Stephanie argued, "He only stopped when Lion showed up!"

"How did he get here anyways?" Joey asked curiously, still tense at the lion's presence, "And why the hell is he pink of all colors?"

"My mom gave him abilities and one of the side-effects just happened to be turning pink," Stephanie shrugged not to fully into the idea of explaining exactly what it was, given the memories attached, "Don't ask me how, I honestly have no idea," She then gently threaded her fingers through the ends of his mane, prodding gently, "Lion, say hello to Joey."

Lion purred, taking what he's learned with the Beach City Townies and rubbed up against Joey's side, purposely making his thick mane brush up in the blonde's face. "Nice kitty..." Joey said a bit nervously, not sure how to react to the king of jungle cats acting like a common house pet, "Big kitty..."

"He's not going to bite you," Stephanie giggled taking his hands and placing them where she knew Lion couldn't resist a good scratch, "He's really just a big softie once you get to know him."

Joey slowly started scratching behind Lion's ears and under his chin, and sure enough, the purring got louder and one of Lion's hind-feet started thumping happily like a rabbit's against the floor, making Joey and Stephanie grin and chuckle. "I'm pettin' a grown-ass, pink lion," Joey muttered to himself in disbelief

"We really should tell someone about Keith though," Joey insisted, "Slime like him don't stop till there behind bars."

"At least wait until your duel with him," Stephanie pleaded worried for Mokuba and Leon, "So he can't use someone as a human shield."

Joey sighed, unable to really argue with the logic, "Fine..." He then blushed and looked away awkwardly, "Now...can ya go get changed? Its hard tah look at ya when yer blouse is open 'n' yer pants are ripped like that."

Stephanie blushed insanely, suddenly remembering what Bandit Keith had done to her clothes and raced into her room to change. Lion instantly sat on his hunches by the door like a guard dog, leaving Joey feeling slightly awkward.

"So...come by 'ere often?" Joey asked prompting an eye-roll from Lion.

 _(Back with the group)_

"About-" Mai commented as Joey and Stephanie finally arrived, but got bug-eyed when she noticed Lion, who walked leisurely and really close to Stephanie, "LION!" The others all shrieked in surprise.

Save for Leon and Mokuba, who both got big and starry eyed with awe. "KITTY!" Leon squealed instantly rushing forward and hugging a surprised Lion by one of his fore-legs. "You have a pet lion, Miss Pink?" Mokuba asked in awed-admiration.

"I wouldn't call him a pet," Stephanie shrugged gently petting Lion's side as the large feline sniffed Leon curiously, "But he did belong to this pride of desert lions that my mother would care for."

"Care for or owned?" Rex asked curiously, trying to picture an older-version of Stephanie sitting leisurely with a pack of easily one of, if not the, most dangerous apex-predator of the modern day, at least on land. Stephanie shrugged, "I'd lean toward owned, but I can never tell with my mother anymore."

"How did he even get here?" Yugi asked curiously, slowly approaching. "And why is he pink of all colors?" Tristan added, "I thought African Desert Lions were supposed to by a light tawny color."

Tea looked at him oddly, "And how do you know that?"

"Me and Tristan actually did a report about them in Geology class," Bakura answered for his tall brunette friend. "I think my mom did something to him and one of the side-effects turned him pink," Stephanie replied shrugging slightly, "Its a lengthy explanation, but, he is friendly." Lion proved her point by licking Leon's face, making him squeal with laughter.

"That tickles!" Leon giggled rubbing his cheek. "You should feel his mane, its just like a pillow," Stephanie smiled as Mokuba came over to feel Lion's mane, both youngest members of the group instantly started digging their faces into it, finding it very soft and nice to the touch, much to everyone's amusement, especially Stephanie's since Lion didn't look the least bit off-put with the attention.

Stephanie had changed into a tank version of her usual pink shirt and a jean skirt, locket secure around her neck and deck in a holder on her snow-white belt.

"Sorry about the wait, by the way," Stephanie blushed embarrassed, looking anywhere but at Bandit Keith, who smirked smugly, "W-Wardrobe malfunction."

"How does a closet malfunction?" Peridot asked confused, "Its not electronic." Seto couldn't help snorting at her innocent mix up.

"All spectators are encouraged to watch the duels from the balcony on the next floor," Sapphire intoned getting everyone's attention as she motioned to a nearby set of stairs, "Only Finalists are permitted on the arena floor."

"Good luck guys," Tea wished. "Kick major butt!" Mokuba added after giving Seto a hug and, surprisingly, Stephanie one too, not that she was complaining.

"Are you going to be okay Steph?" Peridot asked unsurely. "We can stay down here with you if you want," Lapis offered with Bismuth and Jasper nodding in agreement. Stephanie shook her head, "I'll be fine, promise, plus, you heard Sapphire, Finalists only." The Gems still looked unsure but followed the other non-Finalists up the stairs.

"Keep close to Leon and Mokuba, okay, bud?" Stephanie whispered to Lion, discreetly pointing to the two and Lion nodded, already growing a fondness for the two.

Lion padded over and butted his head against Mokuba's back gently, getting his attention, he then knelt down, motioning with his head to his back.

"Can I Seto?" Mokuba asked his brother, who couldn't help smiling a little. "If its alright with Stephanie," Seto replied to which Stephanie nodded.

"Yes!" Mokuba fist pumped before carefully climbing onto Lion's back, hanging on by Lion's mane as the large cat climbed the stairs after the others.

"All Finalists please report to the Dueling Arena," Croquet's voice said over a speaker.

 _(Beach City, Sun Incinerator)_

"Alright, we're getting live-feed in three...two...one..." Rhodonite said as she and the twins were at their consoles, the humans all gathered around their captain's chair, "And on!" The screen came to life as the Finalists all entered at the same time into a large room where a duel arena was suspended in the middle.

Pegasus sat in a throne-like chair, flanked by Kemo and Croquet, while Marco and Star sat in chairs next to his with Sheppard near them with his trolley, prepared to serve to their whims should they require something.

"Are there normally eight Finalists?" Kofi asked his daughters curiously, "Seems much, even for a card game."

"No, there's usually four," Jenny answered lips pursing in confusion. "There's Stephanie!" Connie and Peedee said excitedly.

"He's awfully young to be in a tournament," Priyanka said with mild disapproval on her face and in her tone as she looked at Leon. "Prodigy?" Ronaldo shrugged.

"You gotta be kidding me!" Sour Cream suddenly exclaimed in disbelief, "Kaiba and Raptor's there?" He glowered at the sight of two brunettes.

"Worse, Bandit Keith's there," Buck added in a growl at the sight of the smug looking blonde. "Mai Valentine too," Kiki added, "And Mako Tsunami and Dorothy Hale, this is the big leagues alright."

"I'm getting the idea you don't like that Keith character," Dewey, the former mayor, commented to his son. "I don't blame him," Kevin said with a disgusted expression, "Bandit Keith will use every underhanded trick in the book to get what he wants."

"Plus, rumors are going around that he's just as much a creep and a sleeze outside the arena as he is in," Lars remarked from his chair, head propped on one hand as he watched the screen, "Plus, there's also rumors that he likes them...young...even by Japan's standards, young."

It took a moment for the implication to set in.

"That is disgusting!" Mr. Fryman shouted in outrage, "How is he still in tournaments and events where there are minors around?"

"That's why my B.B.B.P.I. senses were going off!" Sour Cream realized now looking murderous. "B.B.B.P.I.?" Mr. Maheswaran asked in confusion.

"Big Brother Beat-up Perverts Instincts," The teens, including Lars, explained almost automatically. "And no one's ever been able to prove it beyond water-cooler gossip," Jenny finally answered Mr. Fryman, "My guess is he's really good at intimidating victims to staying quiet or he makes sure they can't talk at all."

"I don't understand," Rhodonite said confused as she turned in her seat, "What does age have to do with anything?"

"Remember when Steph and I were explaining about how love works for humans?" Lars said in response and the fusion's cheeks turned magenta at the reminder. "Yes," She and the twins answered. "Well, there's a limit to how old the two humans can be for it to be considered morally okay for them to be in that sort of relationship," Lars exclaimed, "Take Connie for example, it would be okay for her to be dating someone in her age group, around ten to thirteen, nine is a stretch, but if she were to date say, me," Connie shot him a pointed look, "Purely for example, mind you, it would be considered wrong because I'm over fifteen and I'd be in a lot of trouble."

"Now take Bandit Keith, who's in his early thirties," Kofi took over, "It would be alright for him to be around people as young as twenty because they're both consenting adults who know what they're doing, but...apparently..." His face twisted with disgust, "He goes after kids under eighteen, which is a crime for someone his age."

"You mean he goes after newly formed Pebbles!" Rhodonite said in horror, much to the humans confusion. "And has yet to be caught and punished," Lars said taking out his phone as it vibrated and smirked, "Though...something tells me that's going to be changing soon..." The others all looked at him oddly as he texted someone before putting his phone away.

"Tea?" Jamie suddenly asked as he held up a tray of steaming fancy cups and a pot. "Where did you get that?" Ronaldo asked having never seen anything on the ship that resembled a kitchen.

 _(Duelist Kingdom)_

"Yugi Muto, Stephanie Quartz-Universe, Joey Wheeler, Rex Raptor, Dorothy Hale, Mako Tsunami, Seto Kaiba, Leon von Schroeder, Mai Valentine and Bandit Keith," Pegasus greeted as he stood, "I welcome you all to the Playoff Arena; here is where the last great Duel Monsters duels shall be waged to determine the Championship of the Duelist Kingdom, only one of you will emerge victorious and only one of you will claim the three-million-dollar prize."

 _'And that's gotta be me,'_ Joey thought clenching his fists as he thought of his sister, _'I need that money for Serenity...for my sister's operation...'_

Pegasus let the tiniest smile slip as he heard Joey's selfless thoughts through his Millennium Eye, _'You would defiantly like this one Nimbussia...Winny would've respected him too...'_ His visible eye darkened for a moment, his mind flashing to when he was just a small child, playing with three other children, a mini-Star, a mini-Marco and a somewhat older girl, all of them innocent and carefree.

"And what happens to the person who wins?" Leon asked curiously, "Do they get to duel you?"

"That they do, and if they win, they are granted a single request, and should it be in my power to do so, it shall be fulfilled," Pegasus replied in kind.

 _'Which would include setting the captured free,'_ Yugi and Stephanie thought squaring their shoulders. _'Dad...'_ Stephanie thought, nails digging into her palms, trying to block out her previous trauma with her concern for her family, making Pegasus narrow his eyes at her, mouth pressing into a tight, thin line as he developed into her recent events.

 _'Honestly, he's damn well lucky I took Shadow's soul and you aren't here Ceci, he'd be on the receiving end of a Celeste or Hellfire Inferno,'_ Pegasus thought before outwardly cringing, _'Then again, if it were Winny, she would've used the Total Annihilation Spell had she been there...or wouldn't have called that lion back.'_

A gigantic, skull-themed, gothic and ghost-like butterfly creature that was a combination of black and dark blues flashed through Pegasus' mind, followed by a pair of demonic dark blue eyes and glowing, dark, insidious green tear-drops. Pegasus shuddered at the memories.

"Also," Pegasus continued shaking his head, "The winner shall be crowned the Duelist Kingdom Champion, the King or Queen of Games, ranked number one of the world."

"Champion of the World?" Tristan and Peridot breathed with wide eyes.

"And boys, that'll be me," Mai stated confidently. "In your dreams!" Bandit Keith scoffed.

"Can he really give away such a title?" Bismuth asked curiously. "Well, all the Finalists fall under a World Championship," Bakura said thoughtfully, counting the Finalists off on his fingers, "Yugi's all Japanese, so's Kaiba, Joey's got a Canadian citizenship from his father, Mai's from France, Rex was born in Australia but lived in Japan his whole life, Mako's African on his mother side, Leon's German and Dorothy, Stephanie and Bandit Keith are from different parts of the States," He then noticed the looks the others were giving him, "What?"

"How do you know most of that?" Tea asked. "What?" Bakura repeated shrugging, "I read biographies, I go to school with you guys and I go to Beach City sometimes for the summer."

"Plus, as the creator of Duel Monsters," Tristan continued, "Pegasus does technically have the right to give that title as long as it pertains to the game."

"Of course as you all well know, the title and not the money is the real prize," Pegasus continued looking directly at Stephanie and Yugi, smirking a little, "I'm sure plenty of you have much more riding on winning then others, eh, Yugi-Boy? Little Quartz?"

Both of them clenched their fists, eyes narrowing at the silver-haired man, prompting arched-brows from both Marco and Star. Star caught her granddaughter's eyes and gave her an small, encouraging smile, which Stephanie returned slightly.

"Now, with Our Royal Guests' permission," Pegasus finished up, nodding to Marco and Star, who nodded back, "Let's get this started."

As he sat down, Pearl summoned a large holographic screen from her gemstone, setting out the match-ups with pictures of each duelist linked together to show who was dueling who with empty blocks underneath. At the next row were half-filled match-up boxes with Seto's picture in one match-up and Rex in another.

"Mai Valentine and Yugi Muto," Croquet called out, "Please process to the arena." Yugi and Mai proceed to the consoles of the arena, Mai once again at red and Yugi standing in the blue as the Finalists all joined the non-Finalists up in the balcony area.

"What was that shudder?" Marco whispered to Pegasus curiously. "Sheppard, do you happen to have cherry, something dry?" Star prompted the boy. "Yes, You're Majesty!" Sheppard bowed with a nod before drawing a bottle from the bottom of his trolley.

"Remembering... _her_ version of... _ **that**_ ," Pegasus answered discretely and Marco immediately knew what he was talking about. The older man's expression somber-ed with sorrow and remorse, silently accepting the glass of cherry that Star automatically passed over to him, almost downing it in one shot had Star not stopped him.

 _'I have to keep the Millennium Puzzle's spirit under control,'_ Yugi thought as he pulled out and showed Croquet his Glory of the King's Opposite Hand, _'I can't risk him hurting Mai, even if he did talk his issues out with Stephanie.'_ Mai then showed Croquet her Glory of the Kings Hand card.

"Both duelists qualify," Croquet announced prompting Pearl to retract her hologram, "The duel shall begin!"

 _(Beach City)_

"Alright, they're starting!" Kiki said excitedly. "Isn't Muto that new kid who apparently defeated Kaiba in an unofficial match?" Jamie asked curiously, looking over at the other teens for confirmation. "Ah hell yes, I've been wanting to see who but that stuck up brat in his place!" Sour Cream grinned excitedly almost bulldozing Padparascha in his haste to get a closer spot to the screens, "Twenty bucks on him by the way! If he can beat Seto fucking Blue Eyes loving Kaiba, he can beat Valentine!"

Vidalia had joined up with the group a while ago and gave her oldest son a dirty look, "Sour Cream, language!"

"Sorry, mom," Sour Cream said distractedly. "Like hell, ever heard of beginner's luck?" Jenny shook her head, brows furrowed in skepticism, "Everyone's luck runs out at some point and besides, its going to take a lot more than just luck to beat Mai Valentine; her harpies are vicious ya know!"

"Oh, so you'd take that bet?" Sour Cream smirked at her. "Fine, thirty says Mai will cream him!" Jenny stated matter-of-factly. "I'll raise you ten more if Yugi can keep above a thousand life points," Buck threw in with a smirk of his own.

"I'm not hearing this," Kofi muttered rubbing his forehead. "Better this and with each other than in a hall with strangers," Nanafa pointed out. "True," Dewey admitted begrudgingly.

"Deal!" Jenny grinned before turning to Lars, who was typing on his phone, not seeming to pay anyone much attention, save for accepting a cup from Jamie, "You in Lars? I know how you love to bet!"

"Since when do you gamble?" Mr. Barriga asked his son pointedly. "Does it help to say I have yet to lose one?" Lars replied to his father, eyes not leaving his phone as he waited for a reply. "Not really," His mother replied before he got a notification.

"Hook me in another twenty that Yugi wins with a monster with three-thousand attack points or more," Lars said to the teens. "Now that's pacific," Priyanka remarked with a raised brow, making the Space Captain chuckle with a smirk. "Lets just say I have it on...good sources," Lars said cryptically, much to everyone else's, even the Off-Colors' confusion.

"I predict that the Captain is going to make a rather outrageous gamble with the duel!" Padparascha exclaimed excitedly with a grin. "Perspective as usual, Padparascha," Rhodonite said with a good-hearted sigh and roll of her eyes as the twins and Fluorite giggled.

 _(Duelist Kingdom)_

 _'I promised Yugi an honorable duel, I owe him and Jasper a big debt, if they didn't step in to get my Star Chips back from Panik, I wouldn't be here right now,'_ Mai thought as their life points climbed to the beginning count, _'But if he thinks I'm going to just let him win, he's got another thing coming; this is going to be an honorable duel, **not** an easy one.'_

 **Mai LPs: 2000**

 **Yugi LPs: 2000**

"Here I come Yugi," Mai stated. "Right," Yugi nodded with a little smile. "Duel!" They both shouted before Yugi chuckled.

"I hope you plan to duel honorably this time around Mai," Yugi remarked, "Because you aren't going to psyche me out like you did to Steph."

"Sorry kiddo, but I'm playing this fairly," Mai answered making Yugi and Stephanie smile, "I'm not all smoke and mirrors, even without my tricks I can still duel with the best of them," She drew the first card and made the opening move, "I play Harpy Lady in attack mode!" Her redheaded winged-beast appeared on the field with a shriek.

"Her signature monster," Kaiba acknowledged. "Guess every duelist has a gimmick," Rex remarked with a shrug, prompting a nod from Mako and Dorothy as Mai placed a card face-down.

Stephanie glanced at Bandit Keith warily, pulling Leon closer to her when the man glanced over and smirked darkly. Rex noticed this and narrowed his eyes, especially when he caught the dark glare Joey was giving the older blonde and stepped forward, causally leaning to rest his arms on the rail, blocking both of the younger finalists from Bandit Keith's view, and couldn't help the twitch in his lips at the displeased frown that fluttered over Bandit Keith's expression because of it.

 _'I better finish this fast,'_ Yugi thought not giving the face-down a lot of thought, _'The sooner I win, the less chance Yami has to gain control,'_ He drew his first card and smiled, "Gaia the Fierce Knight!" His horseback-warrior appeared, steed rearing and ready for battle, "Attack Harpy Lady!" Gaia instantly charged, lances lowered for attack.

"Thanks Yugi, I wanted you to attack," Mai smirked much to Yugi's surprise, "Now I'll activate my trap card."

"A trap?" Yugi gasped thrown off as Mai flipped her face-down and a tall wall of jagged crystal shot up on the field between Harpy Lady and Gaia, and everyone saw Gaia strike his own reflection, revealing it to be gigantic jagged shards of glass. "Its like one giant mirror," Star remarked as Lapis tensed up instinctively.

"M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-Mirror..." Lapis stuttered teeth chattering almost comically at the sight. "You okay Lapis?" Mokuba asked from Lion's back, having not gotten off when they got to the balcony. Lapis nodded, unable to trust her voice at the moment.

"A wall?" Yugi asked shocked.

"Yes, the Mirror Wall; a powerful trap card that cuts in half the attack points of any monster that attacks," Mai explained, "Once your knight charged my Harpy, it was triggered, and your Gaia was hit with an attack equal to its own from striking its own reflection, cutting his own attack clean in half; pretty slick, huh?"

Rainbow colored lines danced across Gaia's body as he tried to dislodge his lance from the wall and had to bodily plant a foot against it to get enough momentum to free his weapon. His flinched as tiny shards of glass flew at him from the dislodging of his lance.

 **Gaia the Fierce Knight. ATK/DEF: 1150/2100**

 _(Beach City, Sun Incinerator)_

"Aw man, I hate that card!" Sour Cream huffed at the sight of wall. "You're just mad that I got a copy and I keep catching you off guard every time," Jenny smirked. "I'll get you one day!" Sour Cream retorted huffily as everyone else all rolled their eyes at the antics, save for Connie, who shuffled a bit awkwardly, what she had seen before being knocked out still haunted her mind.

 _(Duelist Kingdom)_

"I've heard of that card before," Stephanie said much to the group's surprise, "I think my big sister has one in her deck, my big brother Cream has yet to beat her when she uses it."

"It's rare as it is powerful," Seto nodded in agreement, tone calm, "It is a big tide turner and often a last resort or a beginning road blocker in most duels its used in."

"Now, its my turn," Mai said after drawing, "With a new wardrobe for my Harpy Lady; Cyber Shield." She smiled as the familiar armor materialized onto her Harpy Lady.

 **Harpy Lady. ATK/DEF: 1800/1400**

"Now Harpy Lady attack Gaia," Mai commanded and Harpy Lady smiled as she obeyed, slashing through the horseback knight with her claws.

"Now a bad counter-move," Marco complimented after handing Sheppard his now empty glass. "You'd think a Finalist like _Senor_ Muto would've seen something like that coming though," Star replied sipping from a wine glass as Yugi's life points dropped.

 **Yugi LPs: 1350**

"He's gone..." Yugi whispered in shock, "Just like that, the Harpy Lady reduced my knight to ribbons."

"I'm surprised you fell for that Yugi, don't tell me you've lost your edge this early in the Championships," Mai remarked a small look of disappointment on her face, eyes narrowing in suspicion, "Don't tell me you're holding back against me."

 _(Beach City, Sun Incinerator)_

Peedee was confused, "I don't get it, I thought any pro-duelist would be able to see through a basic tactic like that."

"Normally they don't," Jamie answered looking up from pouring Nanefua more tea, "I wonder what has such a promising young duelist like Mr. Muto so off."

 _(Duelist Kingdom)_

 _'I am holding back...to make sure she doesn't get hurt,'_ Yugi thought with conviction before drawing and saw it was the Summoned Skull, _'If I can just keep drawing powerful cards like this, I should be able to win without Yami's help.'_ He summoned his undead creature after playing a card face-down.

"Alright, the Summoned Skull!" Joey grinned at the sight of one of Yugi's strongest monsters as the others of the group of friends started to perk a little at the increase of Yugi's favor.

"Really Max? Really?" Marco asked giving the chuckling man a dry expression, "You just had to make a card like that?"

"What can I say expect you're welcome~!" Both his wife and Pegasus singsonged innocently, making Sheppard try to disguise his chuckles as coughing, hiding a grin behind his fist. Marco groaned, face-palming, the sight of Summoned Skull immediately dragged up memories of the Underworld and his dearest friend.

"It won't work," Seto suddenly said. "What do you mean?" Peridot asked confused. "The Mirror Wall isn't a normal trap card," Seto explained and those words set off a memory of the graveyard duel with Bonz in Stephanie, Lapis and Joey, Call of the Haunted wasn't a normal trap card, it was...

Stephanie gasped, before trying to call out to Yugi as Summoned Skull charged for an attack, "Yugi, wait!"

But was too late as Yugi ordered, "Summoned Skull electrify that Harpy with Lightning Strike!" Summoned Skull growled as he launched his attack at the smirking Winged-Beast.

"You're really off your game today," Mai remarked very amused, "You fall for the same mistake twice."

The Mirror Wall shot up once more, much to Yugi's utter shock as the electricity was absorbed by the wall, electrifying Summoned Skull's own reflection, "The Mirror Wall?" Before the electricity was shot back at Summoned Skull, who growled loudly in pain as his power was halved.

 **Summoned Skull. ATK/DEF: 1250/1200**

"Its just like Call of the Haunted!" Joey said with wide eyes. "A continuous trap," Yugi said in realization.

 _(Beach City, Sun Incinerator)_

"HOW?" All of the teens and preteens shouted in disbelief at the continued turns against Yugi's favor. "How did he not get the idea that might happen again?" Connie asked incredulously,

"What was that about Yugi keeping it over a thousand?" Kevin asked Buck, who grumbled irritably.

 _(Duelist Kingdom)_

"You're starting to learn, a few turns too late," Mai commented, "Better hurry and get your brain in gear Yugi; unlike most trap cards, the Mirror Wall stays on the field so every time you attack, you'll only activate again and again," Yugi gulped nervously, "You'd better step up your game, if anything to keep me interested."

"Come on Yugi, get your head on straight!" Stephanie called out, but couldn't help thinking, _'He's still afraid of Yami, isn't he?'_

 ** _'Is it really that surprising?'_** Primrose questioned back, _**'It really is the only reason he would fall for such a trick, he's too preoccupied with keeping Yami from giving any kind of help.'**_

"Remember why you're even here!" Tristan reminded his friend. "I don't get it; Yug's always tellin' us tah think thin's through," Joey said very confused, "But now he's ignorin' his own advice 'n' just attackin'; somethin's up." Lapis, Bismuth, Jasper and Peridot all nodded in agreemnet, finding Yugi's behavior very off-putting compared to how he was in his prior duels.

 _ **'Yugi, please, let me help you,'**_ Yami pleaded with his lighter half. _'No, I still can't take the risk!'_ Yugi replied still frightened at the images of just how far Yami might be willing to go to win.

Mai took one look at his conflicted expression and sighed, starting to get the idea that the duel between her and Lapis, and whatever Stephanie and he had talked about didn't completely restore Yugi to the duelist he was before.

"What is with you? I expected a duel and all I get is some lame half-aaaa..." Mai started but remembered how hard Stephanie had kicked Joey when he cursed as well as when she chucked that piece of metal at her, Mai quickly looked up at Stephanie with wide eyes as the girl in question arched a brow at her, lips pursing in distaste, hands hovering over Leon's ears as if to cover them, Seto also poised to do the same with Mokuba if she had finished the sentence.

Immediately, a chill went up the blonde-female's spine, alarm bells going off in her head as she chanted mentally, _'Abort! Abort! Abort! Abort! Don't finish that sentence!'_

Pegasus, having read Mai's mind, curious to her sudden panic attack, couldn't help laughing aloud, getting odd looks from Croquet, Marco, Star and Sheppard.

"What's so funny?" Marco asked curiously. "It...it...it wo-would appear...that your gr-granddaughter...has..." Pegasus said between guffaws of laughter, "H-Has in-inherit-ed...your...t-trigger for...cu-cu-curse words!" Marco blinked in surprise, before perking up at the revelation, while Star groaned, slumping childishly in her seat with a pout. "I was hoping she'd be a rebel streak," Star mumbled as Marco patted her shoulder sympathetically.

 _(Beach City, Sun Incinerator)_

Ronaldo's stood straighter and his eyes narrowed in surprised-suspicion, which Peedee recognized as his brother 'investigative mode', prompting him to question, "What's wrong Ronaldo?"

"Did I hear Pegasus wrong or did he say 'granddaughter'?" Ronaldo questioned back confused, yet suspicious, only to yelp when Jamie suddenly popped up, tray in hand. "Sandwiches?" Jamie asked an assortment of food on his tray, completely replacing the tea set from before. "Where did-? How did-? When did you-?" Ronaldo stuttered pointing and looking around in confusion, very thrown off, "Huh?"

 _(Duelist Kingdom)_

"Hearted," Mai quickly and rather hastily amended her previous sentence, and Stephanie immediately brightened, pulling her hands back to the rail as if nothing was wrong, "Frontal assault," She wasn't the only one who sweat-dropped at Stephanie's shift in mood, "The only reason I duel, Yugi, aside from what I've already listed to Stephanie earlier, is the thrill of trouncing a worthy opponent."

"Are you saying I'm not worthy?" Yugi asked. "Not today kiddo; your body maybe in this duel, but your head and heart have split for parts unknown," Mai shook her head, "It's a real let down, you still seem to be all shaken up from your prior trouncing from Kaiba in your last duel," Yugi gasped, looking as if he'd been slapped, "I want to defeat a worthy opponent at his best, not someone who's afraid of his own shadow; get your act together or I'll gladly knock you out of this tournament!"

"It's not that simple Mai," Yugi said, "I can't let you win."

"Let me win?" Mai repeated incredulously, "Hun the way you've been dueling I don't think there's anything you can do to stop me!" Mai then crossed her arms, looking at him pointedly, "I promised you an honorable duel and I expect the same Yugi; now are you going to put your heart into this or not?"

"Give her points for knowing how to use her words," Dorothy commented idly. "Mai's even more obnoxious when she's winning," Tristan remarked. "I think it's more her way of trying to be encouraging," Mako said in Mai's defense.

"More like annoying," Peridot frowned. "C'mon Yug, don't let her psyche you out!" Joey called out to his best friend.

 _'No, Rex's right, she's not trying to psyche Yugi out, she's trying to knock some sense into him,'_ Stephanie thought seeing the difference in Mai's attitude between now, her duel with Lapis and her duel with Stephanie herself, _'The question becomes...is it going to work?'_

"I **_am_** giving it all that I _can_ Mai," Yugi stated confidently with a determined look, but Mai didn't look all that convinced as she sighed and drew the next card.

 _'He probably thinks I'll use Harpy Lady to attack Summoned Skull,'_ She thought strategically, _'That's why he put that card down, its a trap card.'_

"Well, Mai?" Yugi prompted, "Are you going to attack?"

"Not this time," Mai shook her head before revealing a magic card with a picture of a feather on it, "Not while you have that trap card on the field, so I'll blow it away, with Harpy's Feather Duster!" Harpy Lady gained four large, feathery wings filled with green feathers before letting loose a tornado of wind, which destroyed Yugi's face-down, revealing it to be Spellbinding Circle.

"Had Mai attacked instead of using that card her Harpy would've snared and weakened," Jasper mused, "Leaving it defenseless even to a weakened Summoned Skull."

"True," Mako nodded looking impressed with her assessment, "But even with Harpy Lady trapped and weakened, Yugi wouldn't have been able to attack with Mirror Wall still on the field," He smiled at her, "That's surprisingly observant of you, you sure you just started playing?" Jasper shrugged in response, lips quirking a little at the compliment.

"Yugi will need to change his tactics," Seto observed as well. "And fast," Maisie agreed camera on and recording since the duel started, "I just hope that which ever way Mai is aiming for, it knocks some sense into your friend's brain." Tea, Tristan and Joey shoot the little robot pointedly looks, which both she and Seto ignore, while Mokuba gives them an apologetic glance, the Gems said nothing since they agreed on the view point and Stephanie, while believing Maisie could've used more tact couldn't disagree with her words.

"I'll switch my Skull to defense mode," Yugi said as Summoned Skull knelt down, crossing his arms and folding his wings around himself defensively, "And play another monster face-down in defense."

"Hmm, not much else you can do when you can't attack," Mai acknowledged before playing a familiar weapon, "My turn and I'll play Rose Whip to raise my Harpy's attack power." The thorny whip materialized in Harpy Lady's hand and she cracked it with a grin, scattering rose petals everywhere.

 **Harpy Lady. ATK/DEF: 2100/1400**

"Now her attack points are over two thousand!" Stephanie fretted. "This isn't good," Bismuth bit her lip, racking her mind for how Yugi can get around this.

 _ **'Let me help you Yugi! Please!'** _Yami pleaded worriedly, _**'You remember what Stephanie-Hime said, we're stronger together!'**_

 _'But at what cost?'_ Yugi asked in response, still haunted by how careless Yami had been during their duel with Seto with his ambition to win and pride to raise to Seto's challenge, _'What if you hurt her like you nearly did to Kaiba? How long until you turn that on...on...!'_ The image of Stephanie and Joey getting hurt from Yami's aggression brought tears to swell in Yugi's eyes before he slammed his now clenched fists down on the console, making everyone, even Harpy Lady and Summoned Skull jump in surprise as a burst of dark magic swept across the room in an outward burst from Yugi's spike in frustration.

Star, Marco, Pegasus, Pearl, Bakura and the Gems all shuddered at the dark energy Yugi released. It felt cold, ice cold, yet raw with anger that left a burning sensation on their skin.

 _'What was that?'_ Stephanie and Bakura thought with wide eyes, startled. _**'It almost feels like Shadow Magic, but a little different too,'**_ Primrose thought analytically, to her, it strangely felt like two different powers, shadow magic and something else all at once.

"You felt that too," Star said not asked and Marco nodded. "We really need to talk to our granddaughter," Marco stated softly, yet seriously as their cheek marks, along with Stephanie gave off dark glows from the brush of dark magic. "Shall I fetch Miss Quartz-Universe, You're Majesty?" Sheppard asked. "Not now, let the duel continue," Marco replied.

 _'That was weird,'_ The four non-captured Gems thought. Pearl shook, _'Who is this boy?'_

 _(Beach City, Sun Incinerator)_

"What's got his underwear in a bunch?" Kiki asked with a raised brow.

Jamie and Lars narrowed their eyes, catching the wisping purplish-black that shot out from the smaller duelist, before glancing at each other. Lars then returned his eyes to the screen of his phone, the person he was texting had a black snowflake for their profile picture and was currently asking him if what had happened happened. Lars couldn't help smirking a little, eyes darkening and pupils turning gray again, sending a reply, _'You're ready.'_

The reply was instant, _'Whenever I am needed.'_ Lars expression turned into one of pleased-sanctification before he schooled it quickly and returned his attention back to the duel.

 _(Duelist Kingdom)_

"No need to take your anger out on the arena Yugi," Mai commented calmly, before ordering, "Now Harpy Lady attacks your face-down monster!" Harpy Lady swung her whip down on Yugi's face-down, which revealed itself to be Feral Imp, who screeched out in pain, trying in vain to shield himself, but was destroyed.

"Watch out Yug'!" Joey called out in warning, "Mai's probably gonna try tah multiply her Harpies next, don't let her!"

Tea joined in with a cheer, "Don't give up Yugi!"

 _'I have to turn this duel around and fast, but how?'_ Yugi pondered frantically racking his brain for an idea, _'Mai's playing brilliantly while my attention's divided.'_ He drew a new card, but saw nothing that could help him conquer Mai's Mirror Wall.

"I'm getting bored Yugi, maybe I should wrap this duel up here and now," Mai said before drawing her next card and smirked, "Hm, this may not complete my combination, but it will have enough fire power to destroy your Summoned Skull, allow me to introduce you to the every faithful servant of Harpy Lady."

Mai summoned a new monster that appeared in a burst of wind and flame. It was a large dark red with bat like, webbed wings on the elbows of its arm-like fore-limbs, each foot tipped with sharp black claws. It was thin and slender, leaning towards the more Western-style of dragon with a green, blue-jeweled crest on its forehead, matching the gold collar around its long neck, smoke billowed from its mouth, framing its icy blue eyes.

"What...what is that?" Yugi asked in shock. "Harpy's oh so cute and cuddly Pet Dragon," Mai cooed affectionately to her dragon, who preened at the attention, much to Marco and Star's amusement, "Sweet as a kitten isn't he?" Harpy Lady picked up the gold chain that connected to her Pet Dragon's collar.

 **Harpy's Pet Dragon. Attribute: WIND. Tribe: DRAGON/EFFECT. Lv: 7. ATK/DEF: 2000/2500**

"You call that cute and cuddly?" Lapis asked with a sweat-drop. "And sweet?" Stephanie added, "I'll stick with lions, thanks." Lion puffed up with pride at that, sticking a tongue out at Harpy's Pet Dragon, who huffed.

"Whatever floats your boat, hun," Mai replied idly, "Oh and by the way, my Pet Dragon gets three hundred extra attack points just for standing next to his master."

 **Harpy's Pet Dragon. ATK/DEF: 2300/2500**

"Now blast the skull to ashes, Fearsome Fire Breathe!" Mai exclaimed and her dragon obeyed, letting loose a mighty inferno, prompting Yugi to shield his face from the heat as his Skull was destroyed. "My monster..." Yugi whispered sweat rolling down his neck.

"Get your head back in the game, I've been knocking you around this entire duel and you haven't once come at me with a decent response," Mai said unimpressed, "I want you to duel at your best, but there's only so far I'm willing to go before I decide to end this game," She crossed her arms, "You know Princess over there asked me why I dueled and the answer I gave her was frivolous, but it was honest, can you say the same?"

"I'm dueling for my _ojiisan_ , Mai," Yugi replied stance tensing.

"Hey, cut it out Mai!" Joey shouted irritably, "Yugi has a way better answer then you ever did, him, me and Stephanie are in this for somebody, Stephanie more so cause she has more than one person ridin' on her!" Everyone else of their group nodded in agreement as Stephanie flushed at the attention, Marco and Star shared a confused look as Pegasus looked away, sipping into his glass of red wine innocently.

"You say that," Mai rebuffed, "But how do I know his motives are as pure as you say?"

"Oh, so we should be more like you? Fine then," Joey said before doing his own impression of Mai, hugging himself with his nose upturned and as he started to talk, the Gems, the royal couple, Leon and Mokuba, and their unknown audience at Beach City started to laugh and giggle, "I'm gorgeous, I'm so perfect, I love me," He then put his hands on his hips, frowning down at Mai, asking, "How's that?"

"You are such a twit," Mai stated simply, making Joey face-fault, nearly kicking Bandit Keith in the face, "Can't you see I'm just trying to help Yugi out?"

Standing up, Joey retorted hotly, "I can just see that yer just tryin' tah mess with 'is head!" Joey surprised everyone by jumping into a crouch on-top of the railing, "'N' yer tryin' tah him 'n' me 'n' everybody crazy 'n' dizzy 'n'-YAAAAHAAAAWAAAH!" Joey yelled out in alarm as he slipped and started to fall forward off the rail, making everyone else, save Bandit Keith of course, yell out in alarm as Lapis and Stephanie quickly grabbed him by his jean's waistband and the tail of his jacket and tried to pulled him back over with but were having some difficulty due to most of his dead-weight going with gravity to fall forward and they sadly misjudged how much he weighed.

Star quickly got into gear, standing up and her hands glowed with magic, catching Sheppard off-guard as she says, _**"Rainbow Blast."**_ Creating a blast of rainbow, hitting Joey and knocking him back safely into the balcony, right into Lapis, sending them both to the ground in a heap, Stephanie having seen it coming moved to avoid it.

Smirking to herself, Star blew the remaining multicolored magic off her hand like a cowboy would a smoking gun. Even if she was nearing the big seven-zero, she still got it.

"Will you control yourself!" Tea scolded her blonde friend, irritably. "Thanks Grandma!" Stephanie called over gratefully, making Star beam with pride and get teary-eyed at being called 'grandma' as she sat back down. "Anytime, _Nieta_ ," Star smiled.

 _(Beach City, Sun Incinerator)_

Everyone's spines straightened in surprise, including Lars and for a long moment, all was silent, until Jenny broke the metaphorical ice, "Did she just say...grandma...?"

"Kevin, you're Latino, do you know what _'nieta'_ mean?" Peedee asked. "It means 'granddaughter'," Kevin answered looking stunned.

 _(Duelist Kingdom)_

 _"I can't let myself get distracted anymore; winning is all that matters,'_ Yugi thought drawing a new card and saw it was the Dark Magician, _'This is strong enough to defeat her Pet Dragon, but I can't attack with her Mirror Wall still in place, I need another tactic,'_ He scanned the cards in his hand and got an idea, _'I know, I'll match her trap for trap.'_

Setting one card face down, Yugi then played the Dark Magician in defense mode and his spellcaster appeared in a kneeled stance, and fought to keep himself from smiling, _'Come on Mai, attack, I've matched your Mirror Wall with Mirror Force, all it needs is one move and all your monsters are as good as gone.'_

Mai drew and smiled before playing a card, declaring, "I'll play this card, the Shadow of Eyes."

"The Shadow of Eyes?" Yugi blinked in confusion, only to be startled as his magician stood up, staff raised above his head, preparing for attack, eyes glazed over as a dark haze settled around him, "Wait, why is he switching to attack mode?"

"The Shadow of Eyes card exudes a powerful aura that lures even the mightiest monsters into battle," Mai explained.

"She's basically forcing Dark Magician to attack!" Mako exclaimed with wide-startled eyes. "That means defense is useless!" Tristan added with worry.

"Yeah and there's no stopping it either," Rex added with a frown, "She used that on me during our little unofficial duel back on the boat."

Stephanie turned to him quizzically, "And you didn't mention it before?"

Rex would deny the fact he blushed as he answered sheepishly, "It...might've slipped my mind." The Gems, Tea, Joey and Tristan all rolled their eyes, while Mako and Dorothy chuckled in amusement.

Mai then smirked, "What are you waiting for Dark Magician, attack Harpy Lady!" Shockingly, Dark Magician obeyed, directing a dark magic attack at the smirking harpy only for Mirror Wall to shoot up and absorb the attack, turning it odd colors before rebounding at Dark Magician, cutting his attack power in half.

 **Dark Magician. ATK/DEF: 1250/2100**

"And that's not all," Mai said revealing a familiar spell card, "Another Harpy's Feather Duster to blow your trap card away!" Her Harpy Lady gained her green wings again and destroyed Yugi's Mirror Force, "Now destroy his monster my dragon!" With another raging fiery attack, Dark Magician was incinerated.

"Now he's lost his best card," Mokuba said in worry as Yugi's life points dropped to a lethal level. "Miss Pink, Godmother Lapis, how is Yugi going to win now?" Leon asked curiously. "I'm...not sure..." Lapis admitted while Stephanie remained silent. _'Come on Yugi,'_ Stephanie thought encouragingly, _'Put some faith in Yami, he isn't your enemy here.'_

 **Yugi LPs: 300**

"Don't give up Yugi!" Tea cheered, "You can still win this!"

"But how?" Peridot asked looking completely unsure, "This is looking to be hopeless!"

 _ **'Yugi, please, let me help you!'** _Yami pleaded, **_'If you continue to hold me back, everyone loses!'_**

Yugi looked up at the balcony to his group of friends and bit his lip, asking himself, _'What do I do...?'_

* * *

 **Whew, that took a bit to write, but worth it in my** **opinion, again, let me know what you guys think in your reviews if you feel like putting one, which, for the record would be appreciated even if not necessary, I'm curious to know what you guys think.**

 **I also want to state for the record that Bandit Keith's character wrote that whole no-no-assult thingie for me that it seemed like something that would eventually happen.**

 **Joey is as funny as I remember, I know that scene was apart of the Eng Dub, so correct me if I'm wrong.**

 **Stephanie called Star 'Grandma'! Eee! That part makes me squeal every time I re-read it! And Marco's a proud Grandpa to know his granddaughter doesn't like swearing anymore than he does! SO CUTE!**

 **Oh for future reference once I get to the extra Finalists after Keith VS Joey, c'mon anyone who's watched the anime or read the manga knows how that's going to go, I may or may not make it two parters, if anything to save time, its a work on it when you get there thing.**

 **Anyways, who do you think is going to win in a Dorothy and Gladiators VS Mako and his Fishes, and who do you think is going to duel Seto and Rex at the end of the Semi-Finals before dueling Pegasus?**

 **Think of it like this, the first rounds are organized in cells:**

 **Cell 1 is Yugi VS Mai and Joey VS Bandit Keith, like in the anime, the winners of those duels face off and the winner of that duel will face either Seto or Rex, then duel whoever wins Cell 2 for the right to duel Pegasus.**

 **Cell 2 is Stephanie VS Leon and Dorothy VS Mako and the winners of those duels will face off like Yugi and Joey, and the winner of that duel will face Seto or Rex, then the winner of that duel will duel the winner of Cell 1 for the right to duel Pegasus.**

 **Wow! Typing that made my eyes cross more than once! But, yeah, that's basically how the Finals and Semi-Finals are going to play out until the big duel with Pegasus, unless you want me to throw a surprise duel with Marco and Star, but that would be really pushing it, no matter how much fun that image is sounding in my mind with Yugi and Yami dueling an actual King and Stephanie and Primrose dueling an actual Queen, just...ironic if that makes any sense.**

 **Anyways, my question was, who do you guys think should face Yugi for Cell 1 and who should face Stephanie for Cell 2? I can just see the wishes for a Yugi and Seto rematch, a Yugi VS Kaiba Duelist Kingdom match 2.0, now.**

 **Did I forget anything? Oh yeah, the *note:**

 **Imari*: Is an African name that means 'faithful' or 'loyal', which I thought was fitting as, in my own opinion, Rose/Pink's lions, including Lion himself are African Desert Lions, as they were only shown in, well, a desert during that library episode (correct me if I'm wrong), plus Lion has proven time and again to be loyal to Steven and come through when he's really needed, which fits the description of this name and to be honest I don't really want to keep calling him Lion, as I'm pretty sure, even if Rose/Pink herself didn't name the lions, they would have vocal ways to identify one another, and hey, I could've been cheap and called him Simba or Kimba or heck even Kovu or Nuka or Mufasa or even Scar, you get my point. So, hey, things could've been worse.**

 **Think of it as my way of trying to get an idea of Lion's mindset and backstory, if only in a smallish sense until the show decides to expand on it, assuming it wasn't in a non-show fashion like a comic or coloring book.**

 **Anyways, no new votes for the polls, but I'm going to list them again anyways, seeing how there's maybe two or three more chapters before one of them is closed:**

 _ **Should Yugi remain the King of Games or should Stephanie become Queen?**_

 _ **King: 8, Queen 2**_

 _ **Should Stephanie get an Egyptian God Card?**_

 _ **Yes: 5, No: 6**_

 _ **If yes, however temporarily, which one should it be?**_

 _ **Obelisk: 2, Slifer: 1, Ra: 1**_

 **Also, the Foreign Cod Card poll is still at the top of my author page should anyone want to vote on that, Mayan God Cards are still in the lead with four votes, Greek, Roman and Norse God Cards are tied with three, and Mesopotamian God Cards are at two.**

 **Remember, voting for a King or Queen of Games is closing soon, so vote now.**

 **Until next time everyone!**


	27. Chapter 27

**In fear of sounding like a broken record: I do not own Steven Universe or any of its original characters nor do I own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of its original characters, I can say, however, that I do own Stephanie, her yami, Primrose, and all OCs I chose to make, including original Crystal Beasts, i.e. Bismuth Beaver, Crystal Myths, i.e: Garnet Mother Time, and other original cards. If I _did_ own Steven Universe, trust me, things would've been a lot different and if I own Yu-Gi-Oh there would've been a way for Atem to stay and have all his memories.**

 **foxchick1: I doubt your the only one with animosity towards the a*hole, in fact, you and Twilight Prime would get along amazingly well, you're the only other viewer that's made me laugh so hard while trying to avoid your bad side.**

 **Lady Twilight Prime: Nice to know I'm not the only Lion fan here, I honestly found Leon and Mokuba's instant adoration for him cute, they both struck me as cat lovers, so I figured why not? Also, yeah, that moment with Sapphire was a real hoot to write, I figured after her yelling and threatening Pegasus, something like this was bound to happen, just image how Ruby is going to take it, yeesh! Also, again, Twilight Prime meet foxchick1. Oh and did you look under your bed for your blade sharper? Lol! Though, one question: what did you think of my theory?**

 **Now, on with the first round of the Finals!**

* * *

 _(Beach City, Sun Incinerator)_

"Man I was expecting way better from the dude that was able to give Kaiba of all people a sound trouncing!" Sour Cream frowned dejectedly. "You really aren't a fan of this Kaiba guy, are you?" Kofi remarked with an arched brow, making Vidalia and Onion snort.

"Exact opposite, actually," Vidalia chortled as Sour Cream flushed in embarrassment, "Ever since he competed in the World Championships last year all I've ever heard when tournaments and events are involved is 'Kaiba this' and 'Seto that', its almost repetitive at this point."

"Geez, almost sounds like you have a crush on the guy," Jenny commented in amusement as Sour Cream's face turned redder, making Buck frown crossly.

"Let's just say that we have a love-hate relationship and leave it at that," Sour Cream stated looking away. "I predict Sour Cream is going to turn really red, but just in the face!" Padparascha ever helpfully exclaimed her as always late predictions, a cheery smile on her face.

Sour Cream's groan of frustration filled the ship, almost drowned in the giggles the proclamation pulled from everyone else.

 _(Duelist Kingdom)_

"Mai sure has Yugi on the ropes," Peridot commented upsetly as she watched the duel with everyone else. "Yeah, she's brought him down to three hundred and she hasn't lost one," Joey added sounding a little anxious and frustrated.

 _'As long as that Shadow of Eyes card is on the field, I can't play any monsters in defense mode,'_ Yugi thought trying to formulate a plan, _'But if I try to attack, my monsters' attack will be cut in half the moment they hit that Mirror Wall.'_

 ** _'Yugi, please, let me help you!'_** Yami pleaded with him. _'No, I can't risk turning you loose!'_ Yugi refused pinching his nose at the mental frustration.

Pegasus, picking up on their quarrels with his Millennium Eye, chuckled to himself as he signaled for Pearl to poor him a glass of white wine, _'Poor Yugi boy seems to have a lot on his mind, I sense so much conflict for such a youth; instead of embracing the true power of his Millennium Item as I myself and young Stephanie appears to have, he's resisting it and **that** , in the end, will be his undoing.'_

 _'What do you find so amusing about this, Maxie?'_ Star pondered thoughtfully after glancing at her son-in-law, before returning her gaze back to the struggling boy, _'I know you felt that wave of dark magic too, but nothing about this boy screams dark practitioner, unlike Eclipsa, Meteora and now Lilith.'_

 _'Poor nino*,'_ Marco thought sympathetically, thinking back to his first big tournament, granted, martial arts and a card game are two very different things, but that didn't mean the feeling was, _'The big leagues aren't for everyone.'_

"Mai's played perfectly and without her tricks on top of that," Stephanie remarked, rubbing her arm subconsciously, "Did Prim and I beat her because of sheer dumb luck?" Lapis instantly went to comfort her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, Leon smiled encouragingly as he hugged Stephanie around one leg.

 _(Beach City, Sun Incinerator)_

"Wait, Stephanie beat Valentine!" The teens, even Lars, exclaimed in surprise.

 _(Duelist Kingdom)_

"It wasn't luck, Stephanie, you won that duel because you knew something that I didn't," Mai stated making everyone look at her, "I learned more from that duel than any other I've ever played in my life," She couldn't help a playful smirk sliding onto her face despite the memory that came with her following statement, "For one thing, never insult someone's family when they have enough strength to tear pieces of the console off and violent enough to chuck the pieces at you."

Star and Marco choked on their drinks at this little piece of information about their newly found granddaughter, while Pearl covered her mouth, pretending to cough to hide her small, knowing smile. Back at the Sun Incinerator, everyone had their jaws touching the floor, the Off-Colors included, unable to believe what they just heard about their normally pacifist friend.

"But apart from that, I learned a lesson I never really wanted to learn," Mai continued, "I didn't know it then, but it changed me and the way I look at dueling," Mai then sighed, "I had to take a good, hard look at myself and realize that the reason I relied on my tricks was because I was afraid; afraid to trust myself and my abilities," Mai couldn't help smiling fondly up at Stephanie, "Unlike you, Stephanie, and trust me, this wasn't an easy thing to admit to."

Stephanie blushed bashfully as Lapis gave her a one-armed hug as Stephanie rose marks turned a brilliant crimson from her embarrassment at the praise.

Pearl couldn't help smiling either, though a bit bittersweet. Her beautiful little quartz always did know how to bring out the best in others...just like her mother...

Star and Marco couldn't help sharing a warm smile, already able to see some of their Shadow and even their Nimbussia in their granddaughter already. Pegaus hid a similar smile, also able to see some of his Cecilia in her as well.

Yugi also couldn't help smiling, "You really have changed Mai."

"Stephanie do you know why you managed to make it into the final rounds of this tournament?" Mai asked the shortest female Finalist.

 _'Aside from having Primrose and the suddenly ability to connect with the spirits of my monsters and have their support?'_ Stephanie couldn't help mentally quipping, remembering how she wouldn't have caught Mai's little perfume trick if Cobalt Eagle hadn't reached out to her and calmed her down, her quip caused several female voices to giggle from within her gemstone, their bell-like sounds only reaching Stephanie and Primrose's ears, but aloud, Stephanie smiled as she answered, "Because of my friends, both old and new, I don't know where I'd be without them; all of them."

Lapis full out grinned as she pulled her hybrid friend into a proper hug, Peridot joining in with a wide grin, making Stephanie chuckle and grin widely as well, enjoying the embrace, making the rest of their group smile as well, even Rex and Seto cracked little ones. Bandit Keith, however, just turned away and pretended to gag at the sentiment.

Marco and Star shared another smile, glad their granddaughter had such a wide (if a bit unique, even for Star) group of friends and support.

Though, Marco did notice how Pearl's expression soured with distaste and bitterness, but kept it to himself...for now...he really needed to speak with his granddaughter...and his son.

"That's true, you did have your friends, but you also had something else," Mai stated matter-of-factly, "You had the guts to look inside yourself and face what was in there," Stephanie froze up at this, eyes wide with surprise, tongue stuck in her throat, not sure what to say to that, but didn't have to as Mai kept talking, "You looked your demons in the eyes and dealt with them, and that's a lesson everyone needs to learn."

Stephanie looked down, not sure how to response, but did know how to think, scolding herself, _'Hypocrite.'_

 ** _'Stephanie...'_** Primrose sighed in concern, but didn't approach the subject that haunted the girl since the revelations of the Gem War first reared their ugly heads.

"You taught me that a duelist can learn from her defeats as well as her victories, you taught me to face up to my fears and not bottle them up," Mai continued locking eyes with Yugi, "So Yugi, have you faced your fears? Whatever freaked you out from your duel with Kaiba, have you finally come to grips with it or was Stephanie's private little 'pep talk' not good enough?" No one missed her teasing with 'pep talk', especially with the playful smirk on her face.

Up in the balcony, Tea and Rex choked on air at the insinuation, as did several of the teens back in the Sun Incinerator. Others all giggled, though, Stephanie was lost on what so funny, remarking, "What? What's so funny?" Star snorted as she tried hard not to out right roar with laughter, pounding the armrest of her chair in her efforts as Marco rolled his eyes at his wife's antics.

Pearl, however, looked like she was about to have a heart-attack, having spent enough time around Greg and Amethyst to catch on to the suggestion, _'Oh sweet mother of all stars, not this again!'_

"We'll tell you later," Dorothy assured the shorter female, who just got cross-eyed in confusion, turning to Rex for clarification, but he just mouthed 'later' and she shrugged.

Yugi, however, was too lost in thought to notice the insinuation, losing himself to his mindscape.

 _'How can I? Kaiba was willing to do anything to win and Yami was willing to do anything to stop him,'_ Yugi thought dropping to his knees in anxious-despair, _'If that attack had gone through, Kaiba could've been seriously hurt or worse, Lapis even said it herself, she wouldn't have been able to save him from the distance she was at,'_ Yami appeared behind him, listening to his thoughts, eyes closed, but hands clenched into his blazer sleeves, _'But I couldn't let that happen, even if it did cost me the duel; Stephanie was right, that's not how Grandpa would want to be rescued, it would be the biggest dishonor a member of our family could bring, its something I just can't bring myself to do!'_

 ** _'I swear I meant no harm,'_** Yami whispered almost hesitantly, a reassurance to his tone, _**'I only wanted to help, I vow to never go against your wishes ever again.'**_

 _'How am I suppose to trust you?'_ Yugi questioned turning his head towards the spirit, getting to his feet. _**'Your Ojiisan once told you to trust in the power of the puzzle, didn't he?'**_ Yami asked turning to him as well, _**'I'm asking for that trust, now more then ever; let me prove myself worthy of it.'**_

 _'You're right,'_ Yugi smiled before the Millennium Puzzle glowed and he changed, Yami took his place at the console, working out the kinks in his neck as he did.

Being of magical origin, Star saw straight through the transformation's glamour and was in shock, as was Marco, whose years of magic training also gave him similar sight. They weren't aware there were items out there outside the Royal Wand that had magical powers.

"Mai," Yami began, his much deeper voice carried much clearer and more naturally confident compared to Yugi's, it didn't fail to send a shiver up Stephanie's spine again like it had the first time she met him, "Thanks for reminding me that a true duelist always faces their problems, and you were right, I was holding back, but not any longer."

Pearl's jaw dropped with recognition, _'Atem?'_

"Finally!" Joey cheered along with the others. "Oh thank the stars!" Peridot and Lapis sighed in relief. _'About time, now you both have a chance,'_ Stephanie thought with a smile as Bandit Keith frowned.

 _'A little late to the party Yugi,'_ Mai said unaware of the extent of Yami's personality and sentience, _'I've been playing for real this whole time.'_

"Here we go," Yami said drawing. _**'Remember,'**_ Yugi reminded from his place behind Yami, _**'You promised to duel my way.'**_

 _'I remember, and my word is my bond,'_ Yami reassured before playing a card, a spell card, saying aloud, "I play the magic card Brain Control!" Both Marco and Star tensed at the card's name, as did Pearl, all three shooting Pegasus dirty looks, but he just innocently continued to sip his drink.

"Brain Control, what's that?" Mai asked confused as a giant brain appeared on the field, making a strange noise. "With this card I can take control of any monster on your side of the field for a turn," Yami explained, "And I'll use it to take control of Harpy's Pet Dragon!" Mai's eyes widened as her dragon turned to face her field and roared fiercely as Harpy Lady herself cried out in shock at her most loyal ally turned against her.

"Nice try, Yugi, but even brainwashed the Pet Dragon would never attack its master," Mai stated as Harpy's Pet Dragon turned docile under Brain Control's power, "You just made your final mistake." Yami then chuckled, much to Mai's surprised-confusion.

"I know that Mai, but I don't intent to attack with your dragon," Yami stated confusing everyone, "First I play this card face-down," One of his spaces flashed to indicate his face-down card, "And then summon Catapult Turtle!" Stephanie's eyes widened in surprise as Yami's monster appeared on the field, she instinctively fished out a card from her deck and compared Catapult Turtle to her Emerald Tortoise.

Her tortoise actually looked more like its species, being organic in appearance, while Catapult Turtle looked entire mechanic with sleek black curved metal over its wheeled stubbed feet, matching its head. Where her tortoise had her namesake crystals growing out her shell, Catapult Turtle had his namesake attached to his and had narrowed yellow eyes.

 **Catapult Turtle. Attribute: WATER. Tribe: AQUA/EFFECT. Lv: 5. ATK/DEF: 1000/2000**

"Catapult, huh, that's new," Bismuth remarked.

"Now let's load the catapult with your dragon in attack mode," Yami continued as Mai's dragon flew up onto the launcher as Mirror Wall shot up, "And since I called an attack, your Mirror Wall has activated and I'm going to knock it down with your own dragon!"

In the Sun Incinerator, all the teens were cheering at the clever turn of events, especially at the panicked look on Mai's face.

 _'Oh no, the Catapult Turtle has the power to destroy walls and fortresses,'_ Mai thought. "Catapult launch!" Yami ordered and his turtle obeyed, shooting the Pet Dragon with enough force to smash clean through the Mirror Wall, sending pieces everywhere as Harpy Lady shielded herself from shards.

"Yeah!" Bismuth, Joey, Tristan, Mokuba and Leon cheered as Lion gave an approving roar. "Way to go!" Stephanie, Tea, Lapis, Dorothy and Peridot cheered as well as Primrose grinned to herself in glee at the turn around.

"He shattered my Mirror Wall to pieces!" Mai said in shock. "And that's not all I've done Mai," Yami grinned, "Since I used _your_ dragon to destroy the wall, half of its attack points are taken out of your life points." Sure enough, Mai's life points dropped thanks to Catapult Turtle's effect.

 **Mai LPs: 850**

"The tide of this battle is turning Mai," Yami informed her, confidence unwavering.

 _'It's like he's become a whole new person,'_ Marco and Star observed, watching with deepened interest. _'Most interesting, Yugi seems to have regained his inner strength,'_ Pegasus thought his own interest renewed as Pearl looked away, thoughts racing.

"Its my move," Mai declared drawing, then looked over her options, _'Hmm, the only monster Yugi has on the field right now is that reptilian launch-pad, I could send Harpy Lady to destroy it and Yugi's life points will drop to zero and I'd be the winner,'_ Her eyes drifted to his still flashing space, _'But there is his face-down card, if it's a trap, I'd be walking right into it and that could finish me; this is the toughest decision I've had to make all game, bar-none.'_

 _(Beach City, Sun Incinerator)_

"I don't get it, what's taking her so long?" Ronaldo questioned a little impatiently, "If she attacks now, she'll win the duel."

"Yeah, since Catapult Turtle only has one thousand and Harpy Lady has almost twenty-five-hundred it'd be a no brainer," Connie agreed also confused why Mai was taking so long to make such a simple choice. "It's not that simple," Jamie tsked from where he was pouring Priyanka more tea, "There's Yugi's face-down card to consider."

"What's there to consider about it?" Ronaldo asked. "You really need to start playing the game more," Jenny commented off-handedly much to Ronaldo's annoyance. Sour Cream quickly butted in to explain, "For all Mai knows it could be a trap not too unlike her own Mirror Wall or it could be a bluff on Yugi's part, my guess is she finally ran out of those Harpy Feather Dusters and she's weighing the gamble."

"That's got to be hard, attacking or not attacking," Peedee said in sympathy making the actual duelists in the room shrug. "What a lot of people don't realize that a big part of Duel Monsters is a chance-game," Lars spoke up, instantly getting everyone's attention, "Its almost like poker, sometimes your best weapon is being able to play your opponent into thinking you have something that you don't, trick them into thinking what you want them to think, and your best tool to pull that off, is your poker-face."

The ship's occupants fell silent at insight, having never really thought of it that way.

Suddenly, Padparascha gasped, "Oh my stars! Captain Lars is going to give the most insightful speech!" Lars chuckled fondly in amusement.

 _(Duelist Kingdom)_

"Bring on your assault Mai," Yami challenged without hesitation with a determined expression that Mai take half a step back in surprise.

Everyone watched with baited breath as Mai began to make her choice, "Now I will..." Mai paused for a moment as her breath hitched before deciding, "Not attack..." Many sighed in relief, "I'm not going to fall for your trap card and there are other moves that I can make," She then held up a card and played it, revealing a familiar magic card from her duel with Stephanie, "For example, I can use Elegant Egotist to triple my Harpy attack forces!"

And sure enough, her Harpy Lady split into three, summoning the orange and blue-haired Harpies from the duel with Stephanie, each wearing the Cyber Shield. Each having an equal attack strength of two-thousand four-hundred and fifty, and a defense of twenty-one hundred.

"Hm, that's too bad Mai," Yami commented casually, "You should've attacked."

"Oh really?" Mai asked arching a brow. "Yes, if you had attacked, you would've won," Yami answered lips curling into a smirk.

"But your trap card!" Mai protested. "It wasn't a trap Mai," Yami told her calmly as he picked it up and turned it around to reveal it was, in fact, a spell card, his smirking widening a little, "It's the Monster Recovery card," Mai's mouth fell open in shock as several cheers filled the air, followed by Yami's chuckle, "You fell for my bluff!"

Yami then placed the card back on the console, this time, right-side up, continuing his turn, "For my turn, I'll activate the Monster Recovery card," His turtle then disappeared from the field, "Put all my monsters back into my deck, re-shuffle," He did as described, before drawing himself a new hand, "And then draw five new cards." Yami then took in his new hand; Celtic Guardian, Mystical Elf, Kuriboh, Monster Reborn and Griffore.

"Hm, looks like you didn't draw a monster stronger then my Harpy Ladies," Mai commented with a smirk. _'She's not wrong, what to do...maybe this for now,'_ Yami thought before setting a monster face-down, "I'll play a monster in defense mode."

"But you can't, Shadow of Eyes," Mai reminded him as the purple haze began creeping across the field as Harpy Lady smirked, "It lures all monsters into battle, remember?"

"All monsters?" Yami asked before his monster was revealed, "Mystical Elf!" The blue skinned She-Elf remained kneeling on the field as a soft bluish-white aura surrounded her, warding off the Shadow of Eyes' power, "Shadow of Eyes may lure men into battle, but it doesn't work on female monsters."

Up on the balcony, his group all sighed with relief, including Leon and Mokuba, the latter of home almost fell off Lion.

"That was close," Joey sighed wiping his forehead. "Yeah, _too_ close," Lapis agreed fanning her face.

"But it won't take much for Mai to destroy that elf," Bakura warned grip tightening on the edge of the balcony rail.

"Alright, let's see where we stand," Mai said with a thoughtful expression that was more playful then genuine or mean-spirited, "You're on board with one measly elf and its my turn," Mai then smiled as she played a familiar magic card, "First I'll play Monster Reborn to bring back an old friend."

"Wait, Monster Reborn, but that means..." Stephanie began as her eyes widened in realization, "Oh no..."

"Oh yes, Harpy's Pet Dragon is back," Mai grinned as her dragon reappeared in a flare of flames and another battle roar, "And he's so much stronger than before." Sure enough, the Pet Dragon's attack increased for each individual harpy present on the field.

 **Harpy's Pet Dragon. ATK/DEF: 2900/2500**

"Now Harpy Ladies combine your power!" Mai ordered as her Harpy Ladies charged balls of light between their hands, forming a triangular-shaped attack as they combined, "Wipe out his Mystical Elf!" They fired their attack, destroying Mystical Elf in one fell-swoop.

"She wiped out his last defense!" Tea cried in worry prompting Leon to cling to Stephanie's leg with a whimper of worry, Lion purred gently nuzzling the little kitten in comfort, being careful not to dislodge the cub from his back.

"Your time has run out Yugi," Mai said with a smile, "Next turn I wipe out the remainder of your life-points and then I'll go on to finals and get my rematch with Stephanie," She watched as Yami reached for his deck, _'He might as well admit it, I'm unstoppable; there isn't anything he can do now.'_

 ** _'There has to be something we can do, but I need more time,'_** Yugi's insecurities reared their ugly head, rising his frustration enough that it made Yami pause from reaching for his next card, _**'The next card I draw will be the one that decides the fate of so many lives; but what if I don't draw the right card? What'll happen to Grandpa? To Joey and his sister? To Stephanie and her family?'**_

 _'Trust in yourself Yugi, trust in the heart of the cards, trust in me,'_ Yami reassured before finally drawing and his expression lightened with an idea, _'This'll work!'_

"Come on," Mai said eyes closed with a cocky smile on her face, "We both know I'll wipe out any monster you play on my next turn."

"Swords of Revealing Light!" Yami shouted making her snap her eyes open wide with shock as her Harpies shrieked in alarm as the large, glowing swords of bright white light slammed down into the field, encompassing them and their Pet Dragon within their magic as teens, both in the castle and in a certain ship cheered and some Beach Duelists were laughing at the look on Mai's face.

 _'Swords of Revealing Light?'_ Mai gaped in disbelief, _'How can anybody be that lucky?'_

"That buys Yugi some time!" Mokuba grinned excited. Leon began to jump up and down, trying to peer over the rail, to get a better view, but was failing, prompting him to complain, "I can't see! I can't see!"

Mokuba reached down and tapped Leon's shoulder, getting his attention, he then offer a hand, "Grab." To which, Leon complied and was instantly, and surprisingly easily, lifted up onto Lion's back, sitting in front of Mokuba. Leon smiled widely at the better view, before smiling gratefully up at Mokuba before focusing back at the duel. Mokuba smiled as well, feeling proud of himself for helping, which magnified when he noticed the proud smile on Seto's face otherwise passive expression.

"Decided to go down fighting, huh?" Mai asked with an amused, but somewhat pleased smile, "You know I would've accepted a surrender at this point, but if you want to go out in a blaze of glory, fine by me."

"What I intend to do Mai, is go out in a blaze of victory," Yami said with a smile, before delving into thought, _'The Harpy's Pet Dragon is her strongest monster, unless we can defeat it, we won't stand a chance.'_

 ** _'Any ideas?'_** Yugi asked curious and hopeful, _**'Cause I got none.'**_

 _'There is one way, but its at a high risk,'_ Yami replied in contemplation, concentrating on the card in mind to share it's image with Yugi, _'It involves the Black Luster Ritual, but three turns may not be enough to draw it out.'_

 _ **'Black Luster Ritual?'**_ Yugi's brow wrinkled with confusion, not completely familiar with the card, as his grandfather had not used it all that often, not even duels Solomon actually took with professional seriousness, _**'What's that?'**_

 _'If I draw the right cards then you will see soon enough,'_ Yami reassured with the tiniest smile at Yugi's innocent curiosity, before announcing aloud, "My only move for this turn will be to summon Kuriboh!" The familiar brown puffball appeared with an excited trill glancing around curiously, only to get a bit nervous at the sight of its opponents, particularly at Harpy's Pet Dragon.

"AAAAHHHHH!" Star squealed loudly making everyone jump as she started to squirm in her chair, stars in her eyes, Sheppard nearly dropped the bottle of sherry, "IT'S SO CUUUTEEE~! Which prompted everyone save for Stephanie, Pegasus, Marco and Lion to fall over anime-style, Mokuba nearly falling off his perch had Stephanie not noticed and caught him.

"Honestly Star, just when I think you're starting to act your age," Marco groaned, face-palming as Pegasus snickered into his glass as Pearl started at the woman in disbelief.

"Yami I swear if you use Multiply on him again I just might self-poof!" Stephanie exclaimed trying not to squirm in her spot at the sight of the adorable Fiend monster, "I don't even know if I even _can_ poof!" Yami gave her a nervous grin in response.

"Yep, they're related alright," Peridot confirmed and got over her suspicions about Star and Stephanie's blood relation as she righted herself. "Are we _sure_ she's over sixty years old?" Dorothy asked. "Yeah, why?" Mako asked. "Cause she don't move like it," Dorothy smirked in response, making him, Rex, Stephanie, Tristan and Joey snort.

"Oh great, it's the attack of the killer hairball," Mai muttered sarcastically, sweat-dropping, which made Kuriboh coo angrily in response and start huffing angrily looking like it was getting ready to charge Mai herself, duel be darned, much to Mai's amusement, "Oh no, watch out, I think he wants to take on Harpy's Pet Dragon single-handed!" Mai burst out laughing at the idea, but stopped as she realized no one else was laughing.

"Hey, in my experience its the cute ones you have to watch out for!" Star huffed crossing her arms.

"Laugh all you want Mai," Yami said unwavering, "But make no mistake, Kuriboh is a critical step on my way to winning this duel."

"I you say so," Peridot muttered under her breath.

"That hairball can't be a step towards anything, except maybe choking a cat," Mai remarked, "Anyways, I can't attack with Swords of Revealing Light still in play, so I'll draw this card and end my turn," She drew as she spoke and her dragon growled patiently for battle, "But soon you're going to be history, count on it."

 _'Kuriboh is certainly a start,'_ Yami thought, _'But with just the cards in my hand, I can't begin the Black Luster Ritual,'_ He then drew and saw it was Polymerization, _'But this isn't the card I need.'_

 _'I don't know what you're playing at, kiddo,'_ Mai thought, _'But if you're going to loose might as well lose with some flair.'_

"This card worked for you," Yami commented as he played his other spell card, "Monster Reborn to return Gaia the Fierce Knight!" His horseman re-appeared on the field, steed rearing with excitement to be back. Kuriboh cooed excitedly at his ally, flying around Gaia's head in greeting, making Gaia chuckle fondly.

"Well, at least its an improvement over that furball," Mai muttered before drawing again, "Two turns to go."

"That'll be enough Mai," Yami assured before drawing, but saw a familiar blue dragon, his Winged Dragon, _'Still not the right card.'_

"What is he planning?" Seto muttered with narrowed eyes. "No clue," Maisie replied. "But from the look in his eyes, its not going in his favor," Mako added.

"But he's not worried," Peridot said with certainty now that a stronger monster was on Yugi's field, "He's got this."

Seto glanced at her for a moment before returning his attention to the duel, "If you say so."

"I honestly hope you're right Miss Peridot," Maisie added.

Meanwhile, Pegasus was smiling to himself as he looked at Yami, _'Ah, I see, very daring Yugi-boy, you mean to attempt the legendary Black Luster Ritual your family is most known for, but you only have one turn left to draw the right card; are you really willing to risk it all on one draw?'_

"My turn now," Mai said drawing and mentally cheered with delight, _'I did it! I drew another Harpy Lady card! I can summon her on my next turn and have a total of four Harpy Ladies, bring my dragon's attack to thirty-two hundred! Once Yugi's Swords of Revealing Light are gone, its all over!'_

 _(Beach City, Sun Incinerator)_

"Valentine sure looks smug as hell," Kevin commented making the adults all sigh, despite being on the edge of their seats from anticipation to who would win the duel, having given up trying to get them to stop cursing. "How much does anyone want to bet she drew another Harpy Lady?" Surprisingly, it was Rhodonite who asked, causing a brief, stunned silence.

"What makes you say that Rhodonite?" One of the Rutile Twins asked. "She could've drawn literally anything," The other tacked on.

"The only reason I can think for anyone in that situation to be so smug is if she found a way to increase one of monsters' attack power even further," Rhodonite explained herself, bringing up a little holographic list with her Pearl-Gemstone, "And I've reached Harpy Ladies, Mai's already used up all of her support cards to them any stronger, so the only other option would be..." She purposely trailed off as realization dawned on the others.

"Is her Pet Dragon with another Harpy Lady," Jenny finished with wide eyes. "But that would bring it up to thirty-two hundred attack points!" Kiki exclaimed, "There aren't a lot of monsters that can naturally beat that!"

"Aside from Kaiba's damn Blue Eyes..." Sour Cream muttered under his breath, arms crossed and eyes on the screen and the Swords of Revealing Light slowly started to fade away.

Lars gave a little smile as he allowed Jamie to refill his cup, "I wouldn't go counting Muto out just yet, he's gearing up for something."

"Muto...Muto...why does that name sound so familiar?" Buck muttered to himself, drilling his fingers against one arm in thought.

 _(Duelist Kingdom)_

"My turn is over Yugi," Mai said as Yami looked to his deck, "And on my deck one, it's all over for you!"

 _'One turn left, it all comes down to this...'_ Yami thought heart-pounding in his ears as he slowly reached for his next card, but stopped, fingers just barely an inch away, _'No...what if I can't do it...? It's much too risky! What if I fail? Who am I to risk Yugi's friends and family?'_

 ** _'You can do this!'_** A female voice interrupted as a gentle, delicate hand placed itself over his, making Yami gasp mentally in surprise, turning his head in surprise, only to meet sharp, amber-brown eyes. Cheeks pinking, Yami was understandably stunned, _'P-Primrose...?'_

 _ **'Everyone is behind you Yami, one-hundred percent!'**_ Primrose reassured with a smile, _**'You can't back out now, not when you've come this far! Yami, remember what you're fighting for!'**_

 ** _'She's right!'_** A smaller, more callous hand joined their, making Yami turn his head to his other side. _'Yugi?'_ Yami said in surprise. _**'We have everyone's support in this,'**_ Yugi told him as his mindscape turned his deck into a duel monster card designed door, their hands hovering just an inch from its silvery handle, he motioned as images of their friends, human and Gem alike, all with a hand over-laping his Primrose and Yugi's, smiling encouragingly.

 _ **'Right from the start, we were never really alone,'**_ Yugi said with a smile, which Yami returned. _'Yes, with all of you at my side,'_ Yami thought grasping onto the handle along with the spirits of his allies, _'I have nothing to fear.'_

 ** _'And with the support of our friends at our side,'_** Yugi agreed as they all turned the handle and opened the door, letting light fill the mindscape, _**'There's nothing we can't do.'**_

Pegasus jerked, gasping and spluttering in shock into his drink, startling Pearl, Marco, Star and Sheppard. "Maximillion?" Marco and Star said in concern as the king lightly tapped the younger male's back. "Sir?" Sheppard asked in concern.

 _'Such power!'_ Pegasus thought in shock, _'I've never felt such tremendous strength, ever!'_

Yami finally drew and looked at his new card as all fell silent.

"Well Mai," Yami finally spoke as everyone watched with baited breath, "You've put up a worthy fight," A smile crept onto Yami's face, "But now this duel ends," Mai gasped in shock as Yami revealed his newly gained card, revealing a special spell card, "Starting with this card; Black Luster Ritual!"

Even Bandit Keith and Seto gasped and gaped in shock, jaws hitting the floor as two large, antique urns appeared, one behind Gaia and the other behind Kuriboh, a large stone square with a shield and two crossed cutlasses symbol on it.

 _(Beach City, Sun Incinerator)_

Several thuds were heard as the Cool Kids and Kevin hit the ground from shock.

"Whoa..." Jenny breathed in shock. "What?" Kiki asked confused. "No way..." Sour Cream said in shocked-awe. "What? What's so special about this card?" Vidalia asked. "Muto," Buck said in realization, "He's _Daisuke Muto's_ son!"

"Who's Daisuke Muto?" Ronaldo asked confused. "Daisuke Muto was the few people who was able to beat Pegasus and was considered the Japan King of Duel Monster until his death at the hands of bone cancer a little over a decade ago," Jamie answered.

"Wait," Kevin suddenly remembered Lars' wager, "How did you predict that?" Lars just shrugged with a wide smirk on his face, bring a finger to his lips as if shushing him.

 _(Duelist Kingdom)_

"The Black Luster Ritual works by sacrificing all the monsters on my field," Yami explained as both Gaia and Kuriboh turned into balls of glowing green light, which flew into the urns, prompting the stone to be lifted up-right as blue flames shot up from the urns, "The forces of light and darkness intertwine, opening the gates of chaos, allowing me to summon...!" Yami purposely trailed off as his new monster shot out of the emblem of the stone, landing on the field in a kneel and a loud groan.

Mai took a step back with a startled, but alarmed cry. Everyone else gasped.

Yami then finished as his new monster slowly stood to full-height, "The Black Luster Soldier!"

The warrior resembled a tall, majestic warrior human dressed in stunning blue-plated armor trimmed and decorated with gold with touches of red, complete with a matching set of gloves, boots, helmet and shield. His weapon was a single magnificent scimitar blade. He was pale skinned with mid-back long dark red hair and stern greyish-green eyes. It literally leaked with a dark purple aura of power.

 **Black Luster Soldier. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: WARRIOR/RITUAL. Lv: 8. ATK/DEF: 3000/2500**

"Is that really the legendary Black Luster Soldier?" Mai asked in shock.

"Black Luster Soldier!" Yami called out his order, his warrior was already lifting his blade as it glowed with power, "Chaso Blade Attack!" Black Luster Soldier simply swung his sword down, creating an arch of crackling golden energy, which went hurtling across the field.

The Harpy Ladies easily avoided the blade, but their Pet Dragon wasn't so luckily. It disintegrated before everyone's eyes, the Harpies were in shock as they watched their loyal dragon's destruction.

"Harpy's Pet dragon is vanquished," Yami stated as Black Luster Soldier stared his remaining opponents down. "Just like that...my most powerful monster...its gone!" Mai said in shock as her life points dropped.

 **Mai LPs: 750**

"Whoa..." The Gems all whispered in awe at the monster's display of power. "I knew he could do it!" Stephanie smiled as Primrose nodded in agreement, silently proud of her fellow spirit before disappearing into the earrings.

"Impressive," Marco said impressed. "Powerful is more like it," Star remarked in kind, still shivering from the raw power the monster was literally radiating.

"I honestly didn't think the Pipsqueak could pull it off," Jasper admitted. "I don't think Mai did either," Mako pointed out. "Who knew there would be a way to bring out such a monster from his deck, good show!" Bakura added. "So cool!" Mokuba said in awe, stars in both his and Leon's eyes. "Like a Knight of the Round Table!" Leon added in awe.

The praise prompted a scarlet stain to bloom on Black Luster Soldier's face, clearly not used to hear such compliments.

 _'This duel is over; Mai's spirit is broken,'_ Pegasus thought as Mai slumped over her console, _'She's lost the will to fight on.'_

 _'One turn away...if I had been able to play one more Harpy Lady before the Black Luster Soldier appeared, I would've won!'_ Mai thought sadly as she looked at the Harpy Lady in her hand, _'But I can't revive the Pet Dragon again and there's nothing in my deck that can defeat that ultimate warrior.'_ Standing up, Mai placed her hand over her deck in defeat, making everyone look at her.

"Mai...?" Yami said in surprise, "Does this mean you surrender?" Black Luster Soldier's face twitched at this, he never got to have any fun anymore.

"I'd rather not watch my Harpies get destroyed in the next turn," Mai stated as her Harpies disappeared from the field as she gathered up her cards, "The duel is yours Yugi." Yugi nodded in acceptance as his legendary warrior disappeared from the field as well.

Stephanie smiled widely at this and quickly took off for the stairs, Star, seeing this, stood up and walked off as well.

"Thank you Mai," Yami called after her, "You taught me something today, you taught me that a true duelist faces their fears and learn from their defeats just as much as their victories, otherwise, I never would have won this duel."

"You're welcome Yugi," Mai replied before walking away, adding over her shoulder, "But it looks like I still have a lot to learn myself."

From his home dimension, Glossyrick was snacking on his beloved chocolate pudding, watching the out-come of the duel. Truth be told, he only watched for the purpose of analyzing the magical out-lash Yugi had unintentionally created for the second time since getting to the island. He will admit, he wasn't expecting it from a seemingly normal Earthling, but diving into his family tree's history dismayed that notion, he was just glad it wasn't his original theory, else this particular Dark and Light pairing would've gotten really weird very fast.

Thankfully, things seemed to be going a _lot_ better in comparison to his last Dark and Light.

* * *

 **And that wraps that up!**

 **This is more or less exactly like how it was in the show, not much I can do with the duel there, but I did do what I could make the chapter more unique in terms of everyone outside the duel, let me know what you guys think?**

 **I mean, Lion starting to warm up to Mokuba and Leon, Yami and Primrose finally interact and antics back on the Sun Incinerator, and Glossyrick seems interested in Yugi.**

 **Now, onto the unofficial polls before I forget them as there were no * notes:**

 _ **Should Yugi remain the King of Games or should Stephanie become the Queen of Games?**_

 _ **King: 8, Queen: 2**_

 _ **Should Stephanie get an Egyptian God Card?**_

 _ **Yes: 5, No: 6**_

 _ **If**_ _ **yes, however temporary, which one should it be?**_

 _ **Obelisk: 2, Ra: 1, Slifer: 1**_

 **Oh, now I remember, I have a little announcement for our first unofficial poll, considering the whole King/Queen thing. This part of the poll going to be closing come Dorothy and Mako's duel, so you guys have until then to put in your last minute votes, so review, even if just to vote which you want; Yugi Muto King of Games or Stephanie Diamond-Butterfly Queen of Games.**

 **Finally, as to the actual poll at the top of my author page concerning Foreign God Cards, some of you maybe happy to things have changed and Greek is now in the lead with five, Norse and Mayan are tied for second with four, Roman is in for third with three, followed by Mesopotamian with two.**

 **Huh, you know, I was expecting Greek to be in the two three, maybe tying with say Roman, but this is honestly a surprise. Good surprise mind you.**

 **Till next time everybody!**


	28. Chapter 28

**Now I know I sound like a broken record, but: I do not own Steven Universe or any of its original characters nor do I own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of its original characters, I can say, however, that I do own Stephanie, her yami, Primrose, and all OCs I chose to make, including original Crystal Beasts, i.e. Bismuth Beaver, Crystal Myths, i.e: Garnet Mother Time, and other original cards. If I _did_ own Steven Universe, trust me, things would've been a lot different and if I own Yu-Gi-Oh there would've been a way for Atem to stay and have all his memories.**

 **foxchick1: This was one of my favorite duels during the Duelist Kingdom Arc, I'm happy you enjoyed it! Can you blame their reactions to Kuriboh though? He's just so cuddly! How he never ends up on a Top 10 Anime Cute list I'll never know! Glad you like the idea of some expansion into Yugi's family tree, I got big plans later on! As to Bandit Keith...what is it with my stories and attracting the violent ones? At least give him breathing time between sessions else the pain from the prior one is either going to dull him to the new one or/and make him black outw.**

 **Lady Twilight Prime: Yeah, I'd imagine none of the Crystal Gems are going to be too fond of Bandit Keith after this and you forget, Pearl rarely ever leaves Rose/Pink's side for all that long willingly, so I'd imagine if she went to Egypt, Pearl went with her. Again, can you blame their reactions to Kuriboh? HE'S SO DAMN CUUUTEEE~! Again, how he never even made Honorable Mentions in a top ten cute list is beyond me! And once again, I have plans concerning Yugi's heritage for much later on. As for the theory, yeah, the evidence is weak, not going to lie and everything is more coincidental at best then anything else, like the name, but you can't deny it isn't an interesting one.**

 **Screwball6580: I'm glad you enjoy this fic so much, it's always fun to see a Brony indulging in other fandoms, I do have a wild-cat in mind for a Rose Quartz in mind and that's all I'm going to say, as for Obsidian...well, it is going to happen and lets leave it at that, suspense after all! As for Pegasus stealing Stephanie's soul...not sure where you got that idea. And your right, what fun is there in making sense? ;P!**

 **Oh and one last thing before we move on!**

 **foxchick1 and Lady Twilight Prime PS: Remind me to never get on your bad sides! Yeesh!**

* * *

"The first match of the Duelist Kingdom Play-Offs has been concluded; Yugi Muto has defeated Mai Valentine," Croquet announced formally as Pearl summoned her hologram, the picture of Yugi gained a bronze frame before it was duplicated and the copy moved to the slot for the next match-up, while Mai's faded into gray-scale, "He will advance into the next round."

Yugi's group of friends cheered, even Jasper, making him smile up at them as he and Yami switched back. Even Marco politely clapped for the win.

 _'I couldn't have done this without everyone's help,'_ Yugi thought humbly but was pulled out of it by the sound of a more jovial and slow, almost mocking-type of clapping and turned his head to see it was Pegasus.

"Well played Yugi-boy," Pegasus congratulated while chuckling, "You certainly know how to put on a good show." Marco glanced at the man he had watched grow up and felt like he was missing a lot of details in his situation, especially with the way the winning duelist frowned at the silver-haired man.

"Man, what a creep," Tristan remarked dryly, "Now I kinda feel bad for Steph, having to put up with that as a 'friend of the family'." He shook his head pitingly. "Just how do the people who raised someone like Greg Universe befriend someone like him, I'll never know," Lapis responded in kind.

 _'Enjoy this while you can Pegasus,'_ Yugi thought bitterly, _'Because the only reason I'm here is rescue my Grandpa and everyone else you're keeping under your thumb, and once I beat you and set them free, you won't have anything to chuckle about!'_

"Hey, where'd Miss Pink go?" Mokuba asked as he and Leon looked around. "She headed down the stairs, most likely to be the first to congratulate Yugi," Mako answered motioning in the direction of the stairs. "Queen Star is gone too," Tea noted. "Think she went to catch Stephanie to talk to her?" Dorothy guessed prompting many shrug.

"Proceed," Pegasus said to Croquet after clapping and the man nodded. "The second match of the play-offs and the day, will begin shortly," Croquet continued to announce as Pearl highlighted Joey's and Bandit Keith's pictures in her hologram, "Bandit Keith will face Joey Wheeler; duelists prepare your decks."

"Me? So soon?" Joey asked in surprise. "Don't worry Joey," Bakura reassured, "You'll be fine!"

"Make sure to kick Bandit Keith's butt hard Joey!" Mokuba added in encouragement, Leon nodded in agreement. _'We'll see about that brats,'_ Bandit Keith though irritably. "Oh trust me, I plan to," Joey growled rage slowly building towards the older blonde as he recalled what had happened just prior to Lion's arrival, his fists clenched tightly in reflex, like he desperately wanted to punch something.

"Hey, dweeb, c'mere fer a sec, I got a preposition to make ya," Bandit Keith suddenly spoke to Joey, motioning him closer. "What ya plan tah drop out and make everyone's lives easier?" Joey asked walking over, but kept himself at a distance in case Bandit Keith tried to strike him again.

"In your dreams," Bandit Keith scoffed before smirking, "It's actually about earlier, before the Cotton Candy Kitty showed up," Now that got Jeoy's attention and out of respect for Stephanie's privacy, stepped a bit closer so Bandit Keith could speak low enough for just them to hear, "Let's make this duel a bit more interesting, hmm?"

"How so?" Joey asked just as quiet, but in a guarded tone. "Let's say if you win this duel somehow, which I doubt, I'll fess up to what I did to Princess Butterfly and make sure none of you ever see me again," Bandit Keith proposed whilst secretly crossing his fingers behind his back. Joey arched a brow at this, knowing there was going be an equal level down fall, "And if you win?"

Bandit Keith grinned, "Then the next time, you keep your wannabe-punk nose out of my business." Joey's blood ran cold as he got a good idea of what that meant; basically turn the other way and pretend it isn't happening while this creep went after his new little buddy.

"Give me one good reason!" Joey hissed, growling as his hackles raised and teeth bared, imitating an angry dog. "I'll even fess up to all my past victims too," Bandit Keith threw in with a smirk, fingers still crossed and Joey's eyes widened, before running the gamble through his head.

 _'That means if I win, who knows how many others will finally get justice and I'll be a hero!'_ Joey thought positively, imagining how that would run by his parents, sister and especially Lapis, but that fell as he looked at the cons, _'But this is Bandit Keith, a Champion just like Kaiba; that means he's got some skill, even if he is a sleezy-ass creep! And I don't know if I'd be able to walk away from a scene like that!'_ The memory of Stephanie's frightened and torn, teary-eyed expression haunted him and wasn't sure if he wanted to run the chance of seeing betrayal added to that, _'But then again, she would want all those other girls to get the justice they deserve; man, what would Yug do?'_

After weighing it in his head for a moment, he sighed in frustration before glaring at the smirking older man and snapped, "Fine!" Bandit Keith just chuckled wickedly as they sealed the deal with a handshake.

Turning and heading for a different flight of stairs for the red console, Bandit Keith ignored how Joey immediately wiped his hand on his pants, grinning to himself, pulling the card he stole out of his pocket, _'Too easy.'_

"What was that about?" Jasper asked making Joey freeze up at the idea of Jasper finding out what Bandit Keith had done, not wanting to imagine the wreck the soldier would leave in her wake if she found out about what happened. "Nothing!" Joey assured about to head down the stairs.

"Oh Joey wait!" Lapis cried rushing after him, making him stop and turn to her confused, only for his and everyone else's eyes to widen in shock as she leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his cheek, making Joey's face burn redder then a ripe tomato, she then sealed it with a wink, "For good luck!"

Joey stammered in response, looking like his head was about to com-bust as he pointed back and forth between them while taking little steps backwards from shock, which Seto found highly amusing, until he noticed how close the blonde was getting to the edge of the top step. "Wheeler, watch out for the-!" Seto started to warn, but was too late as Joey took the last small step back, causing him to slip backwards.

"AH!" Joey yelled in startled-alarm before starting to tumble down the stairs, head over heel, loudly, making everyone still on the balcony cringe and wince, even the Gems and Lion, with each thud and yell of, "OH! EEK! AGH! OHMP! AH! EEH! OOH! GAH! OW! GRK!" Before landing at the bottom with one final thud and, "UMMPH!"

The watching Pegasus, Marco, Sheppard, Croquet and Pearl just sweat-dropped; Pearl shaking her head in disbelief. The watching audience back in the Sun Incinerator, was either cringing in sympathy or trying hard not to roll around on the floor laughing as Seto finished in a deadpanned sigh, "Stairs."

"Joey?" Lapis called in concern. "I'm okay!" Joey shouted up at them, making his friends and new allies all sigh.

"What was that about?" Tea asked skeptically about the random show of affection and romantic interest. "What? Don't human females normally give males their close to kisses for good luck?" Lapis asked genuinely confused with a tilt of her head. "I-you-we-err-but-huh!" Tea and Dorothy stammered in response, Mokuba and Leon just shrugged at her.

Pegasus glanced up before Bandit Keith started down the stairs, eye narrowing as his lips pulled into a disdained frowned, only for that frown to pull into a something close to a snarl as he delved into Bandit Keith's mind. What he wouldn't give to have the wand right now...or to have Winny around to scheme with.

Meanwhile, Stephanie rocked on her heels for a moment before Yugi finally emerged from the doors that led to the arena and she grinned widely, "Yugi!" He turned in surprise, only to be nearly knocked down when she gave him a celebratory hug, turning his cheeks pink, "I knew you two could do it!"

"Yeah...you really did..." Yugi admitted in agreement with a smile as he slowly returned the hug, "Thanks Stephanie." She smiled brightly in response.

Star smiled from where she watched the scene, she wasn't sure how long her granddaughter and this boy have known each other, but anyone with a decent pair of eyes could see the bond being formed between them. It she were being perfectly honest with herself, she was seeing a lot of herself and Marco when they were that age, at least, in the beginning of their relationship; her, the eccentric, goofy, expression and out-going girl; him, the quiet, shy, but fun-loving and strong boy. Besides, who was she to judge how quick a bond forms, it didn't take long for one to form between her and Marco and look where they are.

A part of her idly wondered if they were one of those special pairs Glossyrick had been telling her about when she had asked about a Queen's relationship with their King. She and Marco were what Glossyrick called a 'Star and Sun' pairing, at their cores they weren't too different, but at the same time they were far from the same, while Eclipsa and Globgor were what he called a 'Star and Moon' pairing for the basis of their relationship stemming from their similarities and bonding over their differences, and her parents were what he called a 'Star and Gravity' pairing for how despite their differences they were able to work so well together.

There was a rare type of pairing, basically being two sides of the same coin, but in a difference sense then hers and Marco's, but she honestly doubted it. According to Glossyrick and the recorded history that was somehow saved, there hasn't been a 'Dark and Light' pair for almost a millennia, since the very beginnings of the Butterfly Dynasty.

Now that she thought about it, what kind of pair was her son and new-found daughter-in-law, she wondered.

Star was startled out of thoughts by sudden yells and loud thuds and looked up quickly as her granddaughter spun around and looked over with Yugi to see the rambunctious blonde from the spectator balcony come tumbling down the stairs, landing at the bottom with one final thud and a loud grunt, making the elder woman cringe. She rubbed her head beneath her crown sympathetically, remembering all the times she herself fell down stairs.

"Joey!" Stephanie and Yugi cried out in surprised-concern. "I'm okay!" Joey shouted mostly to assure those still in the balcony as he sat up slowly, rubbing his head.

"Are you okay Joey?" Yugi asked in concern. "Yeah, slipped," Joey replied accepting the hands that both shorter duelists offered to help him to his feet.

"Hey, Steph, can I talk tah Yug alone for a sec?" Joey asked. "Ugh...sure," Stephanie replied about to walk back to the stairs. Star decided to make her presence known, calling out, "Stephanie!"

"Your Majesty!" Both boys yelped in surprise, quickly bowing down on one knee in respect, heads almost touching the floor. Stephanie turned in surprise, "Grandma?" Star wasn't sure if she'll ever get used to it, but she knew she'll never get tired of being called that.

"Please boys, no need to bow, any friend of my grandbaby is a friend of mine," Star smiled in a warm, friendly way making both boys fluster a little, "May I borrow her for a moment?"

"Of course/Sure!" Yugi and Joey said immediately and Stephanie just as quickly rushed over to her grandmother, immediately hugging the woman, who almost melted into goo at the affection.

"What is it?" Stephanie asked as they stepped away for privacy, "Is something wrong?"

"I was just wondering if you'd like to sit with me and your grandfather for this duel," Star answered with a smile as her expression brightened at the idea, "I just thought it would be a nice idea to bond a little, especially if you wanted to ask some questions."

"That would be a dream come true!" Stephanie immediately smiled, but it fell as she remembered that also meant sharing a balcony with Pegasus and Pearl, she thought it over, "Can I let my friends know first?"

"Of course," Star reassured before leaning for and kissing her granddaughter's forehead. "Thanks Grandma!" Stephanie said excited about the idea to talk more with her newly discovered grandparents since they didn't get much of a chance to talk the night before.

"Hey guys, is everything okay?" Stephanie asked as she approached the boys. "Yeah, we're good," Joey assured and Yugi nodded in agreement. "What did your _obaasan*_?" Yugi asked curiously, glancing over at Star, who had her hands clasped with a patient smile.

"Yeah, she actually invited me to sit with her and Grandpa," Stephanie replied with a little smile to express her excitement with the idea.

Both boys were surprised with the offer, but also concerned for one main reason, which Joey voiced, "Ya sure ya want to sit over there Steph? I mean, Pegaus is over there..."

"Maybe, but I'm getting the idea they don't know what he's up too," Stephanie replied dropping her volume a little, "I doubt they'd be so civil or calm if they knew about Daddy..." She then shifted nervously, "Plus, considering what she did to stop you from falling back there Joey, I doubt Pegasus would be willing to try something with her around, assuming Grandpa can't use magic."

Joey and Yugi both winced at the reminder, if Star could create something as simple as a rainbow fist, what else could she be cable of? But Yugi had one other concern.

"What about Pearl?" Yugi asked and she instantly shifted more, "Are you going to be okay if she ignores you like Sapphire and Ruby did?"

"To be perfectly honest...I don't know," Stephanie replied rubbing her arm with a shrug, "But...I need this...I never had grandparents before...I just want to bond with them a little..." She then laughed in self-depreciation, "I know its selfish but..."

"No," Yugi shook his head with a smile of understanding, which Joey mirrored, "I don't think its selfish."

"Yeah, Steph," Joey agreed, "Ya went yer whole life not knowin' if ya even had grandparents, I don't think anyone would blame ya fer wantin' tah spend time with them."

"You think so?" Stephanie asked hopefully and they both nodded with encouraging smiles, making her give a little smile back. "I'll tell the others," Yugi offered. "Thanks Yugi," Stephanie smiled gratefully, "And good luck Joey!" She then hurried over to Star, who smiled brilliantly at her and in that moment, both boys saw where Stephanie got her smile as grandmother and granddaughter disappeared up a different staircase.

"Hey Grandpa!" Stephanie greeted as she and Star got to the seating area. Pegasus and Pearl looked over in surprise, Pearl's hands twitched and it took a great amount of restraint not to rush for scoop up her baby. Marco, however, had no such restraint as he stood up and went over to greet his long-lost granddaughter, pulling her into a hug, " _Hola, Nieta_."

Stephanie immediately perked up as she realized why she recognized his accent and why she recognized that last word, " _La Abuela dijo que podia ver el partido con ustedes!**_ "

Pegasus, Marco and Star looked at her, highly surprised, though Marco was equally pleased as Sheppard was impressed with her sudden use of Spanish as the King asked excited, yet happy, " _Tu hablas espanol?***_ "

" _Si****,_ " Stephanie giggled rubbing her head, " _Fue el primer idioma que Papa me enseno una vez que entendi ingles basico*****._ "

"Ugh...anyone have any idea what they're saying over there?" Bismuth asked as the Royal Family continued to converse in Spanish. "No clue, Tea?" Tristan asked. "Hey, I speak only speak English, French and Japanese, not Spanish!" Tea replied in indignantly, before turning curiously over to Bakura, "Ryou?"

"Sorry, Spanish was never really my strong suit," He replied shaking his head before turning to the other Finalists, "What about you guys, any ideas?"

"Sorry, I never learned Spanish," Mako replied sincerely apologetic. "Neither have I," Rex added. "I only know bits and pieces from my time in Mexico," Dorothy tacked on. "Even if I could speak Spanish, I'm not going to intrude on a royal's private conversation just to ease your curiosity," Seto stated in his usual brute honest fashion, much to Tea's irritation, while the others could understand where he was coming from.

"There's nothing to be worried about anyways," Yugi suddenly said from next to Rex, who jumped, startled, "Her _obaasan_ invited her to watch the duel with them, the Queen just wanted to spend time with her granddaughter."

"Well, when you put it like that..." Tristan mumbled relaxing in the assurance Pegasus hadn't pulled something again to turn the hybrid onto his side. The idea really scared him, especially after seeing just how hard Stephanie could throw a punch or swing a kick, as well as imagining what she'll be able to do once she learned how to use the magic she inherited from her grandmother. The idea sent a shiver down his spine.

Tristan snapped himself out of it as the doors swung open and Joey walked in, and the brunette immediately perked up and cheered for his oldest friend, "There's our man!"

"Go Joey!" Tea, Lapis, Dorothy, Leon and Mokuba cheered; the youngest two of which went a little above and beyond, Mokuba was holding up a pair of fans with Joey's face drawn on them in a cartoonish, if a little crude, style, while Leon was holding up a banner with Joey's name on it. in bubbly, cartoonish, multi-colored writing with stars drawn around it they they got from...somewhere.

"Seriously, where are you humans keeping stuff like that?" Peridot asked Seto seriously as she stared at the kids, prompting Seto to sigh in response. "To be honest, I've been wondering about that too," Seto replied. "Hey, be happy he didn't get the pompoms," Maisie pointed out making Seto cringe, "Or the headband, or the outfit for that matter."

"Don't remind me," Seto shuddered remembering the one time Mokuba had actually taken being his personal cheerleader a little too far, particularly in public, thankfully, he had still been at that young age where everyone wrote it off as cute and just being a supportive, if eccentric, little brother. "Huh?" Peridot asked confused. "Please don't ask," Seto, Maisie, and surprisingly, Rex, had all told her in response, though the shorter brunette looked rather amused.

"Shut it you," Seto snapped at the Dino Duelist, who just kept snickering.

Peridot got cross-eyed in confusion, trying to figure out what about cloths could warrant such a reaction, before shaking it off and deciding to ask Stephanie about it later.

"Those two certainly have some spirit in them," Pegasus remarked as Marco and Star retook their seats, prompting a tense smile and nervous chuckle from Stephanie while Primrose glared daggers at the CEO.

"Um..." Stephanie said awkwardly, " _Abuelo, Abuela,_ where am I suppose to sit?"

"Ah!" Sheppard jumped, quickly bowing to a highly startled and slightly uncomfortable Stephanie, "I'll go fetch you a chair, Princess Butterfly!"

 _'Yeah, never gonna get used to that,'_ Stephanie thought making Primrose giggle, "Stephanie is just fine."

 _(Beach City, Sun Incinerator)_

Several people did spit-takes, including Lars, out of pure shock at Sheppard's exclamation, everyone yelling out in shocked-disbelief, "PRINCESS?!"

Save for Vidalia, who was pretending to cough on her tea, but was really hiding her grin and bouts of laughter.

 _(Duelist Kingdom)_

"There's no need for that, Sheppard," Star reassured as her cheekmarks gave little sparks and with a flick of her wrist and a simple, _**"Creaky Knees."**_ She conjured an elaborate, fancy chair similar to her and Marco's own, but with a plushier seating and pillows.

Stephanie felt a little uncertain with sitting in such a fancy chair, but almost melted into the soft cushioning, whispering thankfully, "Thanks Grandma..." Star simply smiled, reaching over to gently pull her granddaughter into a one-armed hug.

Joey couldn't help a warm smile at the sigh of his new little friend so happy and experiencing family bonding, but that smile fell when he saw the red console was empty, "Hey, where's Keith?" A yawn made him look over and everyone on the balcony to lean and look down over the rail to see the older blonde laying on a little love-seat on a lower-level spectator area.

Bandit Keith sat up at hearing his name and stretched, asking, "What time is it?"

Which made several members of the group, including Joey, to fall over anime-style, "What the-!"

"What the he-!" Rex started only to suddenly get a very pink shoe to the face, making him yell out in surprise as the force knocked him onto his back, much to Dorothy and Mako's shock. They all turned to look at Stephanie, who was now missing a shoe and wearing an eerily calm and sweet smile as she called firmly, "No cursing in front of little children, please and thank you!" Which sent a chill down the Finalists' spines, now understanding why Joey and Mai were so afraid of her.

"Yes ma'am..." Rex groaned slowly peeling the shoe off, but now had a bright red shoe-shaped mark in the middle of his face from getting hit by the tread.

"Nice shot," Both Marco and Star said, genuinely impressed with her aim. "Thanks!" Stephanie grinned, "Garnet taught me!" Pearl donned a proud and amused grin, giving Pegasus a knowing look, which he just ignored in favor of getting more wine from Sheppard.

"How did-?" Dorothy and Mako stammered in shock, "When did-? Huh?"

"And that's why I never get on a Rose Quartz's bad side," Bismuth stated wisely, arms crossed, "If you think a shoe's bad, wait till you see her throw her shield." Now everyone, even Bandit Keith paled at that and even Jasper looked a bit nervous at the idea.

"What the heck," Joey continued where Rex had left off, watching his words this time as a confused Mokuba and Leon looked around at the teens confused, "Are ya doin'? Get yer aaaa-!" He quickly backpedaled at remembering Stephanie and quickly corrected himself when he saw her lift a leg and start to peel off her other shoe, "Butt over 'ere!"

"Hey, chill out, punk!" Bandit Keith waved him off, "The pummeling will commence as soon as I'm good and ready, so don't go gettin' your boxers in a twist, Blondie." He tensed when he heard Lion start to growl a little from above.

"You do know your blonde too, right?" Rex called down as he rubbed his face, only to yell out when another shoe, this one with a heel, got him right between the eyes, knocking him over again. "And just what is wrong with blondes?" Star demanded hands on her hips as she glared. "Nothing, Your Majesty!" Mako and Dorothy quickly reassured, covering Rex's mouth before he could get another shoe to the face.

"Stall as long as ya want," Joey frowned at Keith, "But yer gonna have tah duel me sooner or later."

 _'That's what you think, sucker,'_ Bandit Keith thought smirking.

"Tournament certification cards, gentlemen," Croquet requested. "Sure, no problem," Bandit Keith said holding up one of the cards, the one with the treasure vault picture, "Well, dweeb, show the man your card."

"Sure, its right..." Joey started reaching into his pocket only to find nothing. "Tournament certification card, please," Croquet repeated.

"I heard you the first time, just give me a minute!" Joey replied a little snappily as he started searching his pockets, panicking growing as he realized the card Yugi had given him last night was gone, "I know its in here somewhere! Gah!"

"Joey lost his entry card!" Tea asked in shocked-disbelief. "Surely he isn't that absent-minded," Bakura said. "Oh yes he can be!" Tristan replied.

"Didn't he put right into one of his jacket pockets after you gave it to him Yugi?" Lapis asked the short male Finalist. "Yeah, I saw him put it there," Yugi answered just as confused as she was. "Maybe it fell out and he just didn't notice?" Peridot suggested. "Why doesn't this surprise me?" Seto questioned.

"Or me," Rex added shaking his head as he got up. "This sort of forgetfulness is very unbecoming of a Tournament Finalist," Mako tsked and Dorothy nodded in agreement.

 _'Joey...'_ Stephanie thought in concern.

"Well, isn't that a shame?" Bandit Keith crooned sarcastically, "Guess I won't be needing to get off this couch after all, huh, Joey?"

"Well, don't go gettin' too comfy cause once I fine that card-!" Joey started to threaten. "If," Croquet interrupted much to everyone's surprise, save Pegasus', "If you find that card with the time parameters the regulations allow."

Joey stared in alarmed-horror, "You mean...there's a time-limit?"

 _'And seeing how I snatched your card from your coat pocket last night,'_ Bandit Keith thought smugly, _'I got a hunch that timer's going to run out long before you find it.'_

"Retrace your steps Joey!" Tea advised. "Are you sure you put it in your coat?" Jasper asked.

"More then sure, but maybe it fell out back in the room," Joey figured, "Better go look!"

"Five minutes," Croquet informed making everyone look at him, "This duel will begin at eleven sharp, you have five minutes to present your tournament certification card or you will be disqualified."

"WHAT!" The group up in the balcony shouted in disbelief, Seto included, surprisingly, the older Kaiba looked upset. "Wheeler will barely have any time to make it to the room!" Seto said in disbelief. "Careful Kaiba, your starting to sound like you care," Bandit Keith warned earning a glare from the brunette.

"That is the rules of this tournament and they will be upheld with no exceptions," Croquet said firmly, "Not even for a friend of the young Princess Butterfly."

Stephanie looked saddened to hear this and worried as Pearl switched out her holographic screen for a holographic timer of ten-fifty-five, she asked unsurely, " _Abuela...?_ "

"Sorry _nieta_ , but one of first things I fear your going to have to learn the hard way is that royalty can't play favoritism," Marco apologized but used a soft, but stern tone to make his point across that there was nothing he or Star could do for her friend without causing more problems then it might have been worth.

"I'll go help him," Lapis said rushing for the stairs as Joey rushed out the doors, "Four hands are quicker then two."

"Maisie, go with them," Seto, much to everyone's surprises, ordered. "Sir?" Maisie blinked her camera light at him inquisitively. "It'll go a lot quicker if you're there too, now go!" Seto ordered more firmly and Maisie quickly opened up her propellers to hurry after Lapis.

"Kaiba..." Yugi said in surprise. "Don't go getting the wrong idea, Muto," Seto stated coldly, "I could care less if the Mutt gets disqualified or not, but I'd rather not pass up the chance of a duel on a count of a technicality if it can be avoided, whether I'm in it or not."

Everyone just shared a glance.

A tap to her arm made Peridot turn to Mokuba in surprise, but he just motioned for her to lean over and when she did, he whispered childishly in a sing-song tone into her ear, "He cares~!" Making her crack a little smile and they shared a little laugh as Seto huffed.

 _(Beach City, Sun Incinerator)_

"Can they really disqualify Joey if he doesn't find that card?" Connie asked in concern.

"It's Pegasus' tournament, so he makes the rules," Her mother answered with a sigh. "Plus, its not entirely outlandish," Buck added, "When tournaments have special qualifications, like these cards, its technically allowed."

"Plus, these things are running on pretty tight time crunches," Kevin added from a business side of things, "If Queen and King Butterfly are investors, they have to keep the tournament going at a certain pace, else they run the risk of them getting bored and pulling out of supporting Duel Monsters and/or Industrial Illusions; added to the fact these Finals have twice the usual Finalists just doubles the risk."

"At least the Lapis Lazuli was willing to help," One of the Rutile Twins spoke up. "And that Kaiba offered his drone as well," The other Twin added.

"Now that last one sure is surprising," Kiki commented. "Not really," Sour Cream smiled, "If Seto Kaiba can make sure he gets to see an extraordinary duel he's going to do everything in his power to make sure it happens, whether he's in it or not."

"You sound like you speak from experience," Yellowtail commented. "He...may have gotten me out of a jam back in the Internationals..." Sour Cream admitted face pinking darkly, making his brother silently giggle, while Buck frowned.

 _(Duelist Kingdom)_

"Hope that little cyberbug of yours has a good camera, Kaiba!" Bandit Keith said laughing as the group scowled down at him, _'He's never going to find it!'_

Meanwhile, Joey was running down the hall to get to his room, thoughts running a mile a minute. If he didn't find that card soon, he was going to lose to Bandit Keith of all people and on a technicality. A pair of feet behind him and the sounding of whirling made him glance back in surprise to see Lapis and Maisie.

"Lapis!" Joey said in surprise, "Maisie?"

"Here to help!" Maisie chirped. "Like I'm going to let you miss the chance to give that bastard a good beating!" Lapis grinned toothily, making him smile.

Back in the arena room, Bandit Keith was still laying on the couch, barely stifling a yawn, before asking Croquet, "Hey, mind if I take off my boots?"

"Do as you wish," Croquet answered dismissively, "But keep in mind if you aren't in the arena at the designated time of eleven o'clock then you will be disqualified as well."

"Say what now?" Bandit Keith asked sitting up in surprised-disbelief, before groaning as he got up, "Man you suits and your rules."

Meanwhile, Joey and Lapis had turned Joey's entire castle room upside down in a frantic search for his entry card, Maisie even diving into the smaller places like drawers in case he knocked off a surface and even used a built-in-flashlight to check under furniture for it. But none of them were having any luck.

"I don't get it!" Joey said in disbelieved-confusion, "It has to be 'ere somewhere!"

"Any luck Maisie?" Lapis asked only to be confused when she didn't get an answer, "Maisie?" A sudden squawking and whirling made them both look around before looking down to see they were both standing on a sheet that something was trying to get out from under, but couldn't with their combined weight pinning the sheet down.

They quickly jumped off it and Joey lifted it up, allowing Maisie to fly out from under it, to which the robot simply said, "Next time, look before you toss a random sheet, will you?"

 _'I'd give Joey this Glory to the King's Opposite Hand card to duel with,'_ Yugi thought looking at his remaining entry card, _'But then I wouldn't be able to duel Pegasus and save my Grandpa.'_

 _'Maybe I can give Joey my Glory to the King's Hand,'_ Stephanie mused as she looked at one of her own entry cards, _'I mean, its not like I need the money; what with all the antiques the Gems collected over the years just sitting in their rooms, whatever's hiding in Mom's desert, Dad's shares from his music career and me apparently being a princess I could probably pay for Joey's Sister's Operation myself ten times over. Besides; I'm only really in this to free Dad and the others, so as long as I have my Glory to the King's Opposite Hand, I'd be fine.'_

"Aw, c'mon!" Bandit Keith complained, snapping the two Millennium Wielders out of their thoughts as the blonde leaned on his console, clearly bored, "Can't we just disqualify him right now? We all know he ain't comin' back anyways!"

"What?" Tristan and Bismuth asked in disbelief. "Of course he's going to come back!" Tea insisted. "Unlike you, he's not afraid to actually face his opponents," Jasper added heatedly, making Bandit Keith roll his eyes.

"Come on, we all know your little friend's been scared to death of me ever since our little run in back at that cave," Bandit Keith smirked as Stephanie flinched at the reminder of that duel, instantly catching her grandmother's notice, "We all know he's not looking for that Glory to the King's Hand card, he's looking for a place to hide, in fact, how much you wanna bet he probably lost that card on purpose just so he'd have an excuse not to duel me, probably even trying to play the sympathy card up to that little blue fairy friend of yours," They all just glared down at him, even Mokuba, Seto, Leon and the other Finalists and Royals didn't look very amused with him either as he chuckled, "Pretty spineless, I'd say, wonder what that says about the Princess he's good friends with."

Stephanie flinched at the jab at her, causing her grandmother to pull her to her side protective as she and Marco both glared daggers at him and Pegasus, while looking disinterested, dug his fingers into his armrests in anger.

"And I'd say, you're wrong," Surprisingly, it was Seto who spoke up, much to everyone's surprise, "Look, I am not by any means Wheeler's biggest fan, but if there's one thing I picked up from him is that he's far from a coward, in fact," He glanced fondly over at Peridot, "I'm willing to bet if Peridot hadn't challenged me first when I got here, he would've," He then hardened his gaze as he turned back to Bandit Keith, "Besides, unlike you Bandit Keith, there's one thing I can admire about the Mutt is that he's actually got honor, so believe me, he'll be back."

Everyone looked at him in surprised-awe, though Mokuba was smiling.

"We'll see Kaiba," Bandit Keith scoffed, "After all, there's only one minute left."

"Oh no!" Tea gasped in alarm. "Guys, what if Joey can't find that card?" Dorothy asked in concern. "He'll find it, just got to have a little faith," Bakura said encouragingly. _'C'mon Joey,'_ Yugi and Stephanie thought encouragingly.

Meanwhile, Joey was leaning on a wall, panting from the run back to the door to the arena. Lapis stood next to him, Maisie perched on her shoulder.

 _'We must've searched the entire castle and still no card!'_ Joey thought sweat dripping down his face, teeth clenched, slowly slipping down onto his knees as the weight of his impending disqualification came crashing down, _'I can't believe it; after lasting on this island all this time, after beating duelists with twice my experience, after getting past all of Pegasus' traps; I'm going to get disqualified because of this?'_ Lapis jumped when Joey suddenly slammed his fist into the nearby wall, yelling out his frustration, "For losing one lousy card!"

"Joey..." Lapis said softly in sadness, but sure what to say or do as comforting others, even fer own Garden Sisters, was never her forte.

Even Maisie, for all her human-like emotions and habits, was a loss for what to do or say. She was only used to the Kaiba brothers. Heck, she never really interacted much with the staff of the brothers' home or KaibaCorp, so she was still at a loss.

What neither of them were aware of was a dark figure wearing a dark blue hoodie with the hood up, heavily shadowing their features was watching from down the hall, observing the scene intently. _'My, my, my, what anger, what injustice,'_ The figure mused, _'Appears hard work is still never truly awarded around here.'_ Their lips curved downward slightly for a brief moment.

 _'Serenity...'_ Joey thought, shoulders shaking as he started to sob, _'I'm so sorry sis...'_ His sister's smiling face and sweet laughter filled his mind as his tears ran down his cheeks, _'I was close...I came so, so close...'_

The figure took a small half-step back, mouth opening in surprise, before it was pressed into a tight line and they swiftly turned and left.

"Oh Joey..." Lapis whispered feeling like her gemstone was breaking with how helpless she felt, unable to do or say anything to dry his tears.

A sudden step of footsteps got Maisie's attention as she turned, questioning, "Now what?"

"Huh?" Lapis questioned confused. "Get up off the floor Joey!" A familiar voice ordered from behind the sea Gem, making her and Joey gasp.

Lapis whirled around and Joey looked up to see none other then Mai, who had her hands on her hips in a scolding manner as she continued, "And quit your crying, you look like a big baby!"

"Mai!" Lapis said in surprise. "Who says I'm cryin'?" Joey immediately got defensive as he rubbed at his eyes, "I just got somethin' in my eye!"

Mai gave a little smile and Lapis oddly didn't feel mad that she was enjoying seeing Joey cry, it just didn't feel malicious, it just looked more friendly.

"Stupid thin' won't come out!" Joey said in frustration as he rubbed at his eyes only to blink when Mai held out a handkerchief to him. "Here, just don't go blowing your nose in it," Mai advised as he took it uncaring for his confused expression and started to walk off, but paused, "You know," The three looked over at her in surprise as Lapis helped Joey to his feet, "Just when I think I got you people figured out, you keep surprising me, you two especially Joey and Lapis."

The two blinked in surprise, but Mai continued anyways, "Tea told me about your little sister Joey, how you're dueling for her," Joey looked at his feet, "And Lapis, Stephanie told me about how you two met," Lapis' eyes widened in response, "And Peridot told me why she and you are even here, protecting the first real friend you've ever had; to be honest it all sounds like one big mega-soap opera to me, and the whole drama with Stephanie's newfound grandparents don't help, but then again, who doesn't love a good, dramatic soap opera?" Joey didn't have a real reply to that and Lapis didn't even know what a soap opera was, as for Maisie, she didn't really feel like she had a place to say anything, as it didn't involve her personally or her two masters.

"Anyways," Mai sighed a smile on her lips, "See you around, Hons." With that, she started walking away.

Joey was confused before noticing something was wrapped in the handkerchief and when he unfolded the cloth, he gasped in surprise, gaining the other two's attention and they gasped as well at the familiar treasure vault card. "A Glory to the King's Right Hand card!" Maisie said in surprise.

"Wait, Mai!" Joey called out about to try and give it back, but Mai stopped him. "Take it, I don't need it anymore," Mai told him much to his surprise.

"Does...does this mean we're friends now, Mai?" Joey asked hesitantly, unsure how to take this act of generosity. "Don't you have a duel to get to?" Mai asked snippily, reminding Joey of the timer.

"Oh right!" Joey remembered quickly turning to head back into the arena. "Hey, Joey," Mai called getting him to look back, "Take him down."

"Oh don't worry," Joey's expression darkened a little with barely reigned fury and determination, remembering the deal he and Keith had striken up, "I will."

"Thanks Mai," Lapis smiled gratefully before hurrying off with Maisie. "You're welcome Lazuli," Mai whispered before scoffing, "Duh, Wheeler, of course we're friends."

Joey swung the doors open and walked confidently into the arena as everyone looked over at his somewhat dramatic entry.

"Looks like the brat's came back to give us the bad news," Bandit Keith said cockily, "Let me guess, you couldn't find that card?"

Everyone up in the balcony turned as Lapis leaned forward, arms resting calmly on the railing with a knowing smile on her lips as Maisie hovered over and switched out her propellers for thin, willowy, spider-like metal legs to perch onto her older master's shoulder. Stephanie sat up straighter, having taken one of the pillows and was squeezing it close out of anxiousness.

"What do ya mean?" Joey asked as he held up the card Mai had given him, "I got my card right 'ere!" At that the timer ran out, turning the numbers red before Pearl retracted the image back into her gemstone, making his friends and allies cheer, even Rex and Seto gave little twitches of smiles.

 _'Impossible!'_ Bandit Keith thought in shock, _'I'm using his card!'_

"He made it!" Tea said releasing a large sigh of relief. "Thank goodness!" Tristan added knowing how devastated Joey would've been if he got disqualified before he got a fighting chance to save his sister's sight.

"Ah!" Bismuth said as she realized why Lapis had come back so calm, "You knew he found it!"

"I did go to help him find it, remember?" Lapis replied with a calm, causal smile. "A little heads up would've been nice for some's nerves, ya know," Peridot stated making Lapis shrug, not entirely apologetic as she had found the suspense on their parts a little funny.

"Very well, the duel shall proceed as scheduled," Croquet stated as Stephanie almost slid off her seat from how much she sagged in relief, much to her grandparents' and Pegasus' amusement.

"Okay Keith, nap time's over," Joey said seriously, "Time to duel."

"Fine," Bandit Keith said standing up properly, a smirk playing on his face, "You know, a little part of me wanted you to show up, a good warm up match will do me some good for the next round."

"Oh I'll warm ya up 'n' wear ya down!" Joey's smirk turned dark as he then added, "'N' I'm gonna make you pay fer what happened back in that hallway!" Lion showed his support as his eyes darkened at the memory with a vicious snarl that made Bandit Keith and the other teens all flinch, remembering the very real and still very deadly, fully grown wildcat in the balcony. Stephanie also flinched, but for a different reason.

"Hallway?" Everyone up in the balcony echoed in confusion, even Pearl allowed herself to look confused. "Didn't Joey go looking for Stephanie earlier?" Tea asked confused. "Yeah, after Sapphire asked him too," Tristan remembered shivering along with the other guys as they remembered her rant, feeling only slightly bad for Bandit Keith when the blue gem eventually got her hands on him, but also wondered what the blonde did to deserve her ire like that.

"Stephanie..." Yugi murmured with a mix of a concerned, yet thoughtful expression on his face, trying to piece the mystery together. Yami was silent, also trying to piece it together.

"The second match of the playoffs shall begin," Croquet announced, "Bandit Keith, Joey Wheeler; prepare to duel!"

"Good luck Joey!" Lapis, Mokuba, Leon, Tristan, Tea and Yugi cheered. "You can do it!" Dorothy, Bismuth and Peridot added encouragingly. "Kick his butt from here to the Caribbean!" Mako threw in. "Show him the real meaning of honor!" Jasper called as well while Seto and Rex remained silent, the taller actually looked a bit bored and took out his phone, starting to type, most likely texting. "Everyone's behind you!" Maisie threw in as Mokuba and Leon began waving their banners in show their support.

"Joey!" Stephanie called, "Good luck!" Joey flashed her a smile.

"Let's duel!" Joey and Bandit Keith declared as their life points were set.

 **Bandit Keith LPs: 2000**

 **Joey LPs: 2000**

 _(Beach City, Sun Incinerator)_

"Man, this match is going to be hard to predict," Buck remarked. "What do you mean?" His father asked confused.

"For one thing, Wheeler's a literal new face to the pro-circuit," Jenny explained, "We have no clue what he's capable of, plus, there's the fact that Keith's fallen a bit under the radar since his recent defeat at the hands of Pegasus, so, who knows what he's added to his deck since then."

Lars, Jamie, Sour Cream, Kevin and Buck all nodded in agreement as Lars and Sour Cream typed away at their phones. A ding made everyone looked over in surprise at Sour Cream who blinked in surprise before continuing to text. They watched as his expressions shifted from surprise to amused and a bit fond, then surprise again pausing in is typing for a moment before sending a reply, his expression then turned to shock, eyes almost the size of dinner-plates, before narrowing with a level of anger as his fingers typed with agitation before becoming bemused once more but with a twist of defeat and acceptance.

"Hey Kev, you still have access to your dad's jet?" Sour Cream asked suddenly out of the blue. The Latino teen blinked, thrown through a loop.

 _(Duelist Kingdom)_

"So tell me, how's it feel to be going up against the Intercontinental Champion?" Bandit Keith asked as they drew their first five cards. "Oh, the Intercontinental Championships!" Joey said in a faux tone of awe, before smirking, "Pah-lease! I can win a better prize then that in a box of cereal." Marco snorted, really liking this particular friend of his granddaughter's more and more.

"Punk, I'll teach you to respect my title," Bandit Keith growled as he drew his sixth card, only then play a monster face-down, "One card in defense mode."

 _'Okay, time to go to work,'_ Joey thought drawing, _'Serenity...here goes nothing,'_ He then mirrored Keith's move, "One card in defense mode."

"This duel isn't going to get very far if we keep playing defense all day," Bandit Keith commented before flipping is face-down over, "So I think I'll go on the attack with Pendulum Machine."

His monster was a red machine monster wit a human-like, helmet styled head with long, thin arms, all made of red plated metal. Its chest served as the rotating mechanism that served its namesake pendulum blade that hug in the place of a lower body. Its eyes were two simple glowing yellowish-green lights.

 **Pendulum Machine. Attribute: DARK. Tribe: MACHINE. Lv: 6. ATK/DEF: 1750/2000**

"Eerie..." Dorothy muttered mostly creeped out by its eyes. "So he's using Machine monsters, huh?" Seto observed analytical.

"Here we go," Tea said. "Hey guys, do you think that title will give Keith an edge?" Bakura asked curiously.

"Doubt it," Surprisingly, it was Mokuba who spoke up just as his brother began to open his mouth, "If that sort of logic were true, Yugi wouldn't have beaten Seto the first time around." Yugi nodded in agreement.

"Besides, Stephanie summed it up pretty well in Yugi's first duel here against that Weasel," Lapis added as the Gems all frowned at the memory of the Insect Duelist, "Unless you can see the future, you can't predict how a duel will turn out."

"Besides, Blondie has something way better then any title," Bismuth stated matter-of-factly with a proud tone of voice as she tapped a fist against her chest for emphasize, "He's got guts."

"And heart too!" Tea added enthusiastically. "That's all well and good, but remember, that can only get duelists so far," Mako reminded them gently. "Plus," Rex continued more bluntly, "Keith might be a baaaaa-" He paused and looked over to see Stephanie had taken off her remaining shoe and was tossing it in one hand, as if waiting for him to finish that word, thankfully for him, he learned his lesson, "A loud-mouthed, egotistical baboon," Stephanie smiled as she placed her shoe back on, "But he has that title for a reason."

"Plus, he's been at this longer," Dorothy added showing some concern for her new blonde friend.

"A Machine..." Joey said in awe, having never seen a machine-type monster up close before.

"And its about to go into overdrive on your monster!" Bandit Keith grinned, "Pendulum Slice and Dice!" His monster rushed to Joey's field and reached into the glowing square that concealed the younger blonde's monster, before pulling the monster out into view, revealing Battle Warrior, which was then sliced to ribbons from the hanging blade.

"Well that's not a good start," Tristan winced. "No, ya think?" Jasper asked sarcastically.

"Not necessarily, you two," Mako intervened as he kept his eyes on the arena, "Now that Bandit Keith's revealed his monster and what kind it is, he can start working out a strategy to fight back."

Peridot nodded in agreement as Maisie added, "And since Battle Warrior was in Defense Mode, Wheeler didn't lose any Life Points."

"But why a Machine monster?" Yugi questioned. "What do you mean, why a machine?" Peridot asked curiously, but was thinking, _'Machine monster, machine monster, why is that ringing a bell?'_

Bismuth and Lapis were thinking similarly as Yugi replied, "Bandit Keith has all sorts of cards at his disposal and he's seen Joey duel before against Bonz, so why pick Machine monsters, out of all types?"

"Okay, here we go," Joey said summoning a new monster, "Giltia the D. Knight, attack mode!"

His monster was a human male dressed in a dark blue skin-tight outfit with black patterns under a purple cloth that hung from his waist, matching the cape that hung from his sharp green shoulder-plates decorated by grey trims and orange gems. He wore a matching armored head-ring over his shoulder-length blonde hair and a similar belt and knee-pads with a pair of white boots and gloves with red gems decorating them. He was armed with what resembled a ranseur******** pole-arm spear. His reddish-brown eyes locked onto his mechanical enemy without fear.

 **Giltia the D. Knigt. Attribute: LIGHT. Tribe: WARRIOR/FUSION. Lv: 5. ATK/DEF: 1850/1500**

Then it occurred to Lapis and Bismuth why Machine monsters sounded familiar and both Gems called out in warning, "Joey wait!" But was too late.

"Now go!" Joey ordered, "Soul Spear attack!" Giltia spun his ranseur before pointing it at Pendulum Machine as a purple beam of magical energy shot at Keith's monster, only to go right through, much to Joey's shock, "What's goin' on? Why ain't it workin'?"

"Oh dear..." Stephanie murmured in concern. "Great Scott!" Bakura exclaimed in shock.

"Yugi, that can't be right, can it?" Tristan asked.

"You can bet your hair it's right," Bandit Keith smirked as his monster's armor gleamed in the light, "All of my machines are made of high magic resistant armor, making all of your magical attacks worth squat!"

"So that's why he's using Machine monsters," Yugi realized, "They're magic proof."

"And he's seen in the duel with Bonz that a lot of Joey's best monsters use magic-based attacks," Lapis added in alarm, "So he knew exactly how to defend against Joey's best attacks."

"Man, can we ever catch a break?" Tristan almost shouted. "Yeah, the day any of us catch a break will be the day Rose Quartz returns from dead," Jasper stated callously without the least bit hesitance.

"My turn, and I got another well-oiled machine lined up for ya," Bandit Keith grinned, "Launcher Spider!"

His monster was a large mechanical spider covered entirely by thick plating. Its legs were a greenish color with spikes lining their outer side, its head was red with shiny black eyes and sitting on its back was a set of multi-rocket launchers.

 **Launcher Spider. Attribute: FIRE. Tribe: MACHINE. Lv: 7. ATK/DEF: 2200/2500**

This time, when Pearl covered her ears, Pegasus and Croquet knew why, and covered their ears too. The other Gems present, Yugi and Tristan, all remembered what spiders and Stephanie meant and quickly covered their ears too as they saw her turn sheet white and tremble with wide eyes.

"Sp-Sp-Sp-Sp-Sp-Sp-Sp-!" Stephanie stuttered in fear, much to her grandparents' immediately concern. " _Nieta_ , is everything alright?" Star asked in concern.

 _(Beach City, Sun Incinerator)_

Vidalia, Jenny, Buck, Kofi, Jamie, Lars and Sadie all immediately covered their ears once the new monster appeared, much to everyone else's confusion.

 _(Duelist Kingdom)_

"SPIIIIIIIIDEEEEER!" Stephanie screamed in fear causing everyone who hadn't covered their ears or so saw it coming to jump, even those back in Beach City; Bandit Keith and Joey actually threw their cards into the air, Sheppard fell onto his butt and knocked his cart over, Mokuba and Leon nearly fell off Lion, her grandparents actually launched themselves off their seats, even Launcher Spider, Pendulum Machine and Giltia jumped in shock.

Stephanie, however, failed to notice any of this, she simply jumped up and zoomed to hide behind Star's slightly larger seat, adding fearfully, "NOT ANOTHER GODDAMN SPIDER!" Pearl had to grab her own wrists to keep herself from instinctively going to comfort her, "KILL IT WITH FIRE!"

Star and Marco blinked, sharing a look of surprise, but filed this reaction away mentally for later.

"Hey, you just cursed!" Rex pointed out. "I CAN CURSE IF I DAMN WELL WANT!" Stephanie screamed making Pearl shake her head as the hybrid-princess peeked her head around the backrest of her hiding place to glare at him, only for her eyes to be immediately drawn to Launcher Spider and quickly retreated back to hiding, "GAAAH! JOEY JUST GET RID OF IT ALREADY!"

Everyone else sweatdropped at this, especially as Launcher Spider sagged in dejection with an aura of depression around itself, which just made Giltia sweatdrop a little harder, but give his larger opponent an apologetic smile as Pendulum Machine patted one of it's comrade's legs in comfort, looking a bit used to this sort of situation.

"A half-alien, magical princess who's afraid of spiders," Tea remarked ironically as she rung out her ears, "Now I've heard everything."

"Just might be the only normal thing about her," Tristan chuckled and Yugi shrugged as he lowered his hands, if the short male finalist were honest, he found her antics, as dramatic as they be, kinda cute.

"Launcher Spider," Bandit Keith said after retrieving his cards and ringing out his ears, "Shock Rocket attack!" Launcher Spider quickly shook off its sudden depression and popped both of its launchers, attacking with several rockets as ordered, destroying Giltia in a multitude of small explosions, Bandit Keith then grinned, "C'mon kid, fight back; it's _always_ more fun when they struggle!" Joey grinted his teeth as his life points dropped.

 **Joey LPs: 1650**

As Star tried to pull Stephanie out from behind the older Butterfly's chair in stubborn vain, Marco narrowed his eyes in suspicion at Keith's tone and expression at that gleeful admission, being all too well reminded of Rasticore and other members of the Assassin's Guild who took a little _too much_ delight in the finer details of their jobs. And if what Marco had to guess from how Pegasus was gripping one of his armrests, so tight the king was honestly surprised it wasn't starting to splinter or from how the strange woman with the smooth white pearl in her forehead was narrowing her eyes, he wasn't the only one who picked up on it.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but..." Star ground out as she tried to pull Stephanie out of hiding by her skirt to no avail, so she tried her own mother's method of coaxing, "Young lady this is highly unbecoming of a Princess of your standing, come out from there, right now!"

"NOT UNTIL THAT THING IS GONE, THANK YOU VERY MUCH!" Stephanie replied still very much afraid and well used to such scoldings from Pearl and managed to shake her grandmother off, much to the woman's surprised-cardigan, which turned into irritation as both Marco and Pegasus started chuckling and snorting in amusement. Crossing her arms and frowned at them, "And what's so funny, if I may ask?"

"Star, you seriously didn't just pull a Moon, did you?" Marco chortled making Star blush in embarrassment. " _Madre_ if that never worked on _any_ of them, what mad you think it'd work on _her_?" Pegasus asked making the blonde woman sigh, but smile bittersweetly. "Guess she takes more after her grandmother then she thinks," Marco smirked making Star roll her eyes.

 _'Man, I knew Keith was tough,'_ Joey admitted to himself staring down Keith's monsters, _'But I wasn't expecting big metal bullies!'_

"Man, those tin cans are tough," Tristan groaned. "Yugi, Seto, do those things have _any_ weakness?" Peridot asked in concern looking back and forth between the two.

"Well, Machines are easily one of the most powerful monsters in the game, most having an decently high defense as well as offense," Yugi stated in honest analysis, "Rivaled only by Dragons."

"But that doesn't mean they don't have their weakness," Seto continued, "They only have one technique, frontal assault; once they cross someone who can adapt different strategies, they're as good as scrap metal," A tiny smirk of amusement crossed his face, "Question is; does Wheeler have the cards to pull it off?"

"I hope he does something soon," Dorothy commented, "I don't think Stephanie handle Launcher Spider much longer."

 _'Attacking those metal freaks will just get me clobbered,'_ Joey thought trying to stay calm and rational, picking a card to play, _'So I'll play this card in defense mode and a card face-down too.'_ Two spaces, one in his monster zone and one in his Spell and Trap Zone, glowed, indicating both face-downs.

"What's the matter, afraid to fight me like a man?" Bandit Keith taunted making Joey growl at him, irritably, Bandit Keith returned his attention to his cards, plotting, _'If this kid keeps playing in defense mode, I can't get to his life points and finally have a little fun around here; I have to draw him out, get him to attack me, then I can do some real damage,'_ Bandit Keith smirked before picking a card and went to play it, "I'll play this card in defense mode and-whoops!" Bandit Keith feigned surprise as the card 'slipped' from his fingers onto the console and the creature briefly appeared.

Despite being hazy, the sharp eyes of the Gems saw it for what it was; some sort of blue impish like creature, almost looking skeletal in design, bi-pedaled and three-clawed limbs and had orange horns on its head and matching spikes on its back. Not the most unique monster thus far, but defiantly up there in less appealing to look at. One thing immediately stuck out though, it didn't have the least bit of armor plating on it, unlike Keith's other monsters.

 **Zoa. Attribute: DARK. Tribe: FIEND. Lv: 7. ATK/DEF: 2600/1900**

"That was a mistake," Bandit Keith quickly picked it up, making the image vanish, "Just forget what you saw," He then played his move, "As I was saying, I'll play this monster in defense mode."

Tea had a creeped out, yet dry expression on her face, remarking, "Whatever it was, it sure was ugly." Jasper and Bismuth grunted in agreement as Lapis stuck out her tongue in disgust.

"But not metal," Tristan observed and Joey grinned, having noticed as well.

 _'Tristan's right, that wasn't a machine,'_ Joey thought giddily, not entirely thinking the entire scene through, _'It's a shadow monster called Zoa, a beast my Flame Swordsman can toast easily.'_

"Check out Wheeler's grin, something's up," Rex remarked. "Something about this doesn't feel right," Surprisingly, it was Leon who said this, making everyone, even Lion look at the youngest and smallest member of the entire group.

"Go Flame Swordsman!" Joey called summoning his ever faithful flame warrior to the field, Flame Swordsman gripped his sword tight and squared his shoulders as he stared down his new opponents.

"What do you mean, Leon?" Lapis asked curiously. "Don't you think its weird after two perfectly armored machines Bandit Keith suddenly plays a monster that doesn't have the least bit of metal on it?" Leon replied in kind which had Mako, Seto, Yugi, Peridot and Jasper nodding in agreement, also finding it odd.

Overhearing this, Star finally turned around from trying to coax Stephanie out of hiding, confused over what was suddenly going on, "Huh? What's going on?"

"Attention span and observation skills sharp as ever..." Marco sighed shaking his head, "Bandit Keith 'accidentally' dropped the card he was about to play in defense and everyone saw it, but strangely, it was a Fiend, not a Machine like his other monsters."

Now that got Stephanie's interest as she perked up from behind her grandmother's chair, "Wait, the only reason he'd play that would be to..." Realization dawned on her with horror, "Oh no!"

"Zoa's attack is higher then its defense," Mako stated matter-of-factly. "So it makes little sense to play it in defense mode, especially with support from an equally strong monster like Launcher Spider," Bakura continued making Mako nod in agreement.

"And I also play this; Salamandra," Joey added playing a spell that had the picture of a dragon head made entirely of fire curled around it, "To increase my Swordsman's fire-power." The fire-entity appeared around Flame Swordsman's blade, increasing his power.

 **Flame Swordsman. ATK/DEF: 2500/1600**

"So Keith is dropped Zoa on purprose!" Tea gasped in alarm. "He's wants Joey to attack him!" Mokuba said with wide eyes, knowing what will happen even if the planned attack hits. "Joey, wait, don't attack!" Lapis cried waving her arms to get the blonde's attention, but was too late.

"Swordsman attack!" Joey ordered and his warrior swung his sword in a downward arch, sending the entity from Salamandra flying across the field at the glowing square on Keith's field. "You fell right for it," Bandit Keith grinned flipping his other face-down, revealing a trap, "Go Metalmorph!" As his monster appeared, everyone, even Stephanie peered around her hiding spot to watch in alarmed-shock as limbs of flesh and bone slowly morphed and hardened into sleek, thick steel and plating.

"Now Zoa becomes Metalzoa," Bandit Keith explained, "And gains four hundred extra attack and defense points."

 **Metalzoa. Attribute: DARK. Tribe: MACHINE/EFFECT. Lv: 8. ATK/DEF: 3000/2300**

"No big deal!" Joey shook it off. "It is a big deal, because that new armor sends all magic attacks right back to where they came from," Bandit Keith smirked as Joey's face twisted with horrified-realization. "My Swordsman..." Joey said in shock as the attack bounced right off Metalzoa and went flying right back at Flame Swordsman, who grunted as he tried to shield himself to no avail.

 **Joey LPs: 1150**

"Wish you could've seen the look on your face when your monster was destroyed; priceless!" Bandit Keith laughed in morbid glee making both monarchs frown, Stephanie gripped one of her arms, "And I'm not done yet, now for your little defense monster, only he won't be defending for long." He showed the card he drew.

"A Stop Defense card!" Joey said in shocked-alarm as Bandit Keith played it, forcing his face-down monster to reveal itself to be Axe Raider.

"An Axe Raider, huh?" Bandit Keith mused, no match for my Metalzoa, attack!" Metalzoa charged Axe Raider, who steeled himself for impact, holding his axe in front of himself in an attempt for defense.

"Oh no, if that attack hits Joey's finished!" Yugi cried in worry. "Joey!" Lapis, Mokuba and Leon cried. "I can't watch!" Tea and Dorothy said, the latter of whom actually covered her eyes.

 _(Beach City, Sun Incinerator)_

Everyone cried out in worry for the younger blonde duelist they were cheering for, even Jamie was clutching anxiously at his tray and Lars was gripping his chair's arm-rests so tight, it was wonder how he hadn't made holes in them yet.

 _(Duelist Kingdom)_

But then, without warning, Metalzoa suddenly disappeared, making everyone gasp and go wide-eyed with shock.

Even Bandit Keith was stunned, demanding, "Wha-where'd he go?"

"Alright, ya fell right into my trap!" Joey laughed, "Just like I planned!"

"What?" Bandit Keith demanded in disbelief as Stephanie smiled from her hiding spot, " _You_ set a trap for **_me!_** "

Everyone leaned in and craned their necks to see Metalzoa had actually fallen into a large pitfall that had appeared on the field and was filled with crystal spikes. Star grimaced at the sight of the pierced metal body and Marco patted his wife's back in comfort, knowing her severe distaste for such scenes of war-based violence.

"Of course, the Chasm of Spikes card!" Yugi cheered ruefully, "Now, not only is Metalzoa destroyed, but a quarter of his attack points are taken out of Bandit Keith's life points!" Bandit Keith grinted his teeth as more members of the seemingly growing group of annoyances cheered as his life points finally started to drop.

 **Bandit Keith LPs: 1250**

"I think I finally found the chink in yer machines' armor, they maybe physically strong but against my traps they're nothin' but piles of junk!" Joey stated confident and proud of his achievement, before smirking, "I just wish ya coulda seen yer face when your Zoa was skewered, priceless!" His grin widened as Star, Marco and Pegasus started chuckling, Pearl and Sheppard were trying to hide their own amusement but failed.

No one saw the smile on Stephanie's lips turn into a grin of her own, shoulders shaking with silent laughter.

 _(Beach City, Sun Incinerator)_

Everyone laughed and cheered, a few even clapping for the ingenuous turnabout. Lars glanced at the door as Kevin returned without Sour Cream and the rich teen nodded to him. Lars ran a hand through his bangs before returning his attention to the duel.

 _(_ _Duelist Kingdom)_

"Alright!" Lapis, Bismuth and Peridot cheered, the blue Gem punching the air in her enthusiasm. "You tell him!" Tea and Dorothy encouraged.

"Looks like Wheeler has found the weakness in the Machine Monsters after all," Maisie mused mostly to Seto. "Clearly," Seto smirked.

"Instead of focusing on beating the Machines back with brute force," Mako smiled approvingly, "He's letting his traps do all the work."

"And knowing Wheeler he has plenty up his sleeves," Rex added with a bittersweet expression, knowing one particular card in Joey's deck that would turn even Launcher Spider in a pile of burning scrape metal with one blast.

"Now Keith's only winning by a hundred points," Bakura smiled widely. "It's anyone's match!" Mokuba added excitedly. "Go Joey!" Tristan and Leon shouted as the younger waved his banner.

"My turn 'n' I'll play this little number face-down," Joey continued his turn placing another card face-down in his Spell and Trap zone, a cocky smirk on his face, "Oh 'n' it's a trap, so don't even bother attackin'." Marco and Star both cocked a brow, having to give the younger blonde credit for self-confidence, the other Finalists having similar thoughts.

 _(Beach City, Sun Incinerator)_

Jenny whistled, also impressed with Joey's confidence, "Someone's got balls, ya gotta give him that much." Her twin hummed in agreement.

"Even someone not nearly as experienced in the game like me can tell the bluff," Priyanka wrinkled her nose at the obvious ploy for buying time. "You don't actually think he expects Bandit Keith to fall for that, do you?" Peedee asked curiously.

"None of us have ever heard of Wheeler before, so again, we have no idea what's going on under all the blonde straw," Buck stated, "Though sometimes, its the hiding in plain sight and more than one possibility to every move is something to consider." Everyone hummed in consideration.

 _(Duelist Kingdom)_

"Oooh...wow," Peridot blinked, stunned, "Now there's an attitude."

"Careful Golden Locks," Jasper called in warning, "You haven't won anything yet."

"Is it gone yet?" Stephanie asked nervously. "Not yet, Princess Stephanie," Sheppard informed making the hybrid sigh. "Please stop calling me that..." She bemoaned. "Apologies, Princess Butterfly," Sheppard corrected himself making her sigh again.

"Next I switch Axe Raider back to defense mode," Joey said switching his warrior's card, prompting Axe Raider to kneel down, "Then I play Garoozis in attack mode!" His scaly warrior appeared with a wicked grin, "Now attack, Battle Blade Strike!" Garoozis charged Keith's smaller machine, slicing Pendulum Machine in two, much to Bandit Keith's anger as his life points dropped again.

 **Bandit Keith LPs: 1200**

"Punk!" Bandit Keith growled before yelling, making Stephanie yelp and flinch, much to those closest to her's concern, "Launcher Spider demolish Garoozis!" His monster let loose another barrage of missiles at Garoozis, kicking up a large cloud of smoke, making Keith calm down and grin smugly, "So much for having another trap card!"

"Wrong Keith," Joey grinned, "Ya thought I was bluffin' 'n' now yer gonna pay fer it."

"Say what?" Bandit Keith said in shock as what looked like a large ninja's throwing star on a long chain came flying out of the smoke and wrapped around Launcher Spider's front legs, revealing Garoozis holding the other end. Garoozis smirked and gave the chain a yank pulling Launcher Spider's legs out from under it and made it fall to the ground, "This weapon increases my monster's attack by five hundred points."

 **Garoozis. ATK/DEF: 2300/1500**

"Garoozis attack and destroy his spider!" Joey ordered and Garoozis sot forward, slicing Launcher Spider to pieces, destroying it and Bandit Keith's life points dropped once more.

 **Bandit Keith LPs: 1100**

"It's gone, you can come out now Little Quartz," Pegasus informed making Pearl tense and fist her hands at the nickname as Stephanie stepped out.

"Great job Joey," Stephanie smiled, "I knew you could beat it."

"Thanks Steph," Joey smiled back. "Don't go thanking him just yet!" Bandit Keith growled punching his console in frustration earning dark frowns from Pearl, Marco and Star.

"Ah, what's wrong? Don't tell a you're loosin' yer cool tah an amateur like me," Joey smiled goofily, making Stephanie and Lapis giggle whilst fueling Bandit Keith's anger, unaware of how it also got his unknown audience laughing their butts off.

"Alright, it's close but Joey's just won himself a slight lead!" Bakura said with an excited smile. "I knew he could do it!" Lapis grinned happily.

"Just you wait punk! You're going to run out of traps sooner or later!" Bandit Keith said angrily, "They can't protect you forever, and when you run out, I'll unleash my more powerful machines! Nobody beats Bandit Keith!" Nobody missed how Stephanie flinched and tensed as Bandit Keith just raised his volume and shouted, "NOBODY!"

* * *

 **You wish Keith, you wish!**

 **Yeesh that took a while, but as someone once said, don't ask me who, good things come to those who wait...now if only I could get that through my sister's head so she'd stop burning herself every time she used the oven...just kidding! Lol. Anyways, let me know what you guys think, it took so long and got so long cause I was really trying to incorperate our additional cast to all this, let me know how I did on that, by the way.**

 **Anyways, you all know what happens in the second half of this duel so no worries there, though I will say, the conclusion just might be a little...shocking.**

 **Now, on to those *notes before I forget about them:**

 **Obaasan*: Is the Japanese family term for Aunt**

 **La Abuela dijo que podia ver el partido con ustedes!**: Is Spanish for "Grandma said I could watch the match with you guys!"** **I can just see Greg at least teaching Steven his native tongue if he really was half Latino, plus it would be interesting to see Steven or Stephanie speak Spanish.**

 **Tu hablas espanol?***: Is Spanish for "You Speak Spanish?" Same reason as above.**

 **Si****: I like to think we all know what that's Spanish for.**

 **Fue el primer idioma que Papa me enseno una vez que entendi ingles basico*****: Is Spanish for "It was the first language Dad taught me once I understood basic English" Again, same reason as **.**

 **Ranseur********: A ranseur is a polearm-spear weapon from 15th century Europe and was seen as a ceremonial weapon through the 17th century. I had to go through a lot of lists and pictures comparing with Giltia's picture to get a right match so I can give an accurate description and trust me, it wasn't easy. Someone give me cookies for effort at least!**

 **Now, with that out of the way, on to announce the unofficial polls:**

 _ **Should Yugi keep his title as King of Games? Or should Stephanie become the Queen of Games?**_

 _ **King: 8, Queen: 2**_

 _ **Should Stephanie get an Egyptian God Card?**_

 _ **Yes: 5, No: 6**_

 _ **If she does, however temporary, which one should it be?**_

 _ **Obelisk: 2, Ra: 1, Slifer: 1**_

 **Hm, still no votes. Ah well, there's still a few chapters before that first one closes and the other two won't be happening until Ishizu's(someone tell how her name's spelled, I can't remember) arrival. So get your votes in people while you still can.**

 **And on the note of polls, my official one with the Foreign God Cards are going pretty well, Greek's back in the lead by two votes with seven in total, followed by Norse at five; third place is a tie with four votes is Roman and Mayan, followed with Mesopotamian with surprisingly two.**

 **Till next time everyone!**


	29. Chapter 29

**Now I know I sound like a broken record, but I digress: I do not own Steven Universe or any of its original characters nor do I own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of its original characters, I can say, however, that I do own Stephanie, her yami, Primrose, and all OCs I chose to make, including original Crystal Beasts, i.e. Bismuth Beaver, Crystal Myths, i.e: Garnet Mother Time, and other original cards. If I _did_ own Steven Universe, trust me, things would've been a lot different and if I own Yu-Gi-Oh there would've been a way for Atem to stay and have all his memories.**

 **foxchick1: You must admit, grandmother and granddaughter share quite the surprising amount of quirks and the like in common despite never meeting for almost a decade and a half. As for the figure, well, that would be telling, now wouldn't it? ;P!**

 **Derik Davis: For my unofficial polls, you just type in your chosen vote in your review, like picking a God Card for Stephanie. An official poll is usually up at the top of my author page. By the way, what's megalovania? Haven't heard of it, is it suppose to be some kind of dramatic sound effect?**

 **frostlash: Quite the pacific though quite hilarious punishment, lol. Hope you like what I have in mind.**

 **Screwball6580: I'm glad you like the chapter, was afraid it was a little lengthy and you're welcome for the shout-outs, I always did enjoy this particular part of chapters, almost feels like conversations outside of PMs. As for Diamond cards well...that would be telling, now wouldn't it?**

 **Lady Twilight Prime: Its true, those two are easily the most adorable in the entire group, bar none. Did anyone ever tell you, you can be a bit scary in text format? Yeeeeesh! By any chance are you a Saw fan, ya know, the Jigsaw series? Just something about that part with Keith just struck me wit Saw-vibes.**

 **Anywho, let's get on with the chapter!**

* * *

"What's wrong, champ?" Joey asked tauntingly with a silly smirk on his face, "Don't tell me a pro like you is loosin' yer cool over an amateur like me?"

"Please," Bandit Keith scoffed trying to keep his composure, "This duel ain't even half over yet, and your already counting the prize money," Bandit Keith grinted his teeth in frustration, _'If don't wipe out all those monsters out quick, I'm going to be ruined!'_

"Careful Joey!" Stephanie called out in warning, "Don't get cocky!"

"I got this Steph," Joey reassured her, "Don't worry."

"Why do I suddenly feel worried?" Stephanie questioned mostly to herself, making Star giggle. "Seems to me you might have the Diaz paranoia," Her grandmother smirked at her grandfather, who rolled his eyes as Pegasus snickered into his wine.

"This has got to be the closest match-up I've ever seen!" Tristan said with wide eyes as everyone kept their eyes on the duel. "Its defiantly what one would call 'nail-biting'," Peridot replied almost punching holes in the rail with how tightly she was gripping it.

"And with only fifty points separating their scores this really is anyone's game," Bakura added. "Talk about anxiety-wrecking," Yugi attempted to joke.

"Come on Joey!" Tea said, "It just comes down to these last few turns!"

"Don't give up now Joey!" Mokuba and Leon added. "You got this!" Lapis and Bismuth added.

"Your sister's counting on ya, make her proud!" Tristan added as well. "No prob," Joey replied with a thumbs up.

 _'The Peridot is right, this duel has turned into quite the nail-biter; Joey, a virtual unknown going card for card with the Intercontinental Champion, I wonder what's responsible for such stellar performances,'_ Pegasus thought to himself, glancing warily towards Marco and Star, whose eyes were almost glued to the duel, _'Perhaps my Millennium Eye can show me the answer.'_

What he didn't realize was that Marco noticed the faint golden glow of magic of his Millennium Item and narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

Pegasus looked into Bandit Keith's mind and his amusement only grew once he found the reason Bandit Keith had entered in the first place, _'Ah yes, of course, Keith has been wading through a never-ending pool of misery since that defeat a handed him and now he seeks his revenge,'_ However his amusement instantly died as he uncovered the additional motive, _'I'm really hoping Joey wins...wait, is that girl nine or six?'_ As his rage bubbled his grip on his armrest and glass, until his glass broke in his hand, catching everyone off guard.

 _'Happy thoughts, happy thoughts, happy thoughts; kittens, kuribohs, toons!'_ Pegasus quickly thought trying to reign his temper, only way he can use any magic without the wand was bribe Glossyrick with pudding to give him temporary access to magic, but now wasn't the time to tip Star and Marco off that he had the book, no matter how much he wanted to Midnight Shriek the blonde monster into oblivion, like Eclipsa or anyone else would blame him.

He took a deep breath as he thought back to happier days...

 _(Flashback 1)_

 _A 12-year-old Maximillion J. Pegasus sighed in boredom as he looked through his history book, dressed in a maroon button-up and dark navy pants. When a 12-year-old Cecilia 'Nimbusia' Angela Diaz-Butterfly burst into the den he was in, wearing a blue frilly sundress that had a pink sash tied around her waist._

 _"Maxi come on!" Cecilia said as she ran over and pulled him out of his seat. "Hey!" Maximillion yelped in surprise as the nearby maid looked over, startled, "What's going on Cecilia? I gotta study!"_

 _"You're always studying!" Cecilia said as she pulled him out of the room and down the hall, "You're gonna hurt your head soon if you don't stop," She then opened the door she stopped at and pulled him in, spreading her arms open with a loud, "TA-DA!" Maximillion looked around and gasped._

 _All around the t.v. was a bunch of is favorite snacks; caramel corn, potato chips, black and red licorice, there were even two liter bottles of sodas, and the opening of Funny Bunny was playing on the screen._

 _Maximillion could only stare, mouth open, stunned, as Cecilia only watched his reaction excitedly, looking like she was about to blow as he managed to say, "Wha...?"_

 _"I know how much you missed junk food ever since your dad got it in his head you need to lose weight and that you really love Funny Bunny and haven't been able to watch it lately," Cecilia explained bubbly, literally bouncing around him in circles as he watched, her tridents glowing with her pent up energy and happiness, "So, I set this up."_

 _Maximillion was stunned to say the least, looking at her in awe, cheeks pinking, "You...you did this for me?"_

 _She finally stopped bouncing, hair flying with the halt, blue eyes shining with sincerity, "Of course I did, silly! I hate seeing you so sad!"_

 _Maximillion gasped softly in surprise, flushing darker, but smiled in gratitude, gently taking her hand, "Thanks Ceci..."_

 _"Anytime!" She smiled back, brighter then the sun, before pulling him towards her set up, adding, "And I told you, when we're alone, just call me Nimbusia or Nimbi!"_

 _He couldn't help smiling more openly as he allowed himself to be pulled along this time, "Okay, Nimbi..."_

 _(Flashback 2)_

 _Thirteen-year-old Maximillion J. Pegasus tensed from where he laid in the garden as a shadow loomed. He quickly tried to hide his sketchbook as he turned to see a sixteen-year-old Gregorio 'Greg' 'Shadow' Comet Diaz-Butterfly standing there, wand open and leaning on one shoulder like most wound a normal parasol. Waist-long dark brown hair fell in a thick, messy braid down his back and equally dark brown eyes smiled friendly down at him in greeting, "Hey, whatcha got there?"_

 _Maximillion blushed darkly and looked away in shame as he tried to keep his sketchbook hidden, able to trust his voice, even as his light came back as Greg moved out of the way and now sat next to him. "Hey now, I won't bite, I know I throw a mean Crystal Barrage, but..." Greg tried to make light conversation, but Maximillion shuffled away a bit, still silent, but it gave Greg a glimpse of the page, a portrait of him. It wasn't complete, a rough draft, but it was pretty good. It had him in a spell-casting pose, one arm raised up, hair-billowing behind him, wand extended out and the canopy open, all from a subtle side-angle._

 _"Hey, is that me?" Greg asked making Maximillion a bit nervous, "That looks really amazing!"_

 _Maximillion looked away again, still not daring to breath a word and it made Greg sigh, having a pretty good guess what was making the normally blunt and bold boy so reserved and skittish. It was times like this, despite his business brilliance, Greg really disliked Harold B. Pegasus, pacifically his idea of parenting._

 _"Don't worry, I'm not going to tell him," Greg reassured sincerely, making Maximillion glance up shyly, "Your dad, I mean," Greg sighed, setting the wand down and drew his knees to his chest with a reserved smile, "I get it, you hide what really makes you happy because you're scared no one's going to take you seriously or they'll get so upset at you," Maximillion's expression opened up with surprised-awe, "Guess that's one thing we have in common."_

 _Maximillion relaxed a little and looked at his sketchbook forlornly._

 _"I've always loved music, ever since I was younger then you," Greg told him to Maximillion's furthered surprise, but the prince's eyes were on the sky, particularly a crescent-moon shaped cloud and a cloud shaped like a cactus, "Ever since I was little my Abuelo and Abuela loved teaching me all sorts of songs and tunes to play on the guitar, Papi and Mami have their own to share, but...its just not the same, you know?"_

 _In way, Maximillion did know, in his father's absence, he had grown close to his late mother, who actually introduced and encouraged him into the word of art, particularly his interests in sketching and painting. While Harold had his own taste in the arts, Tanisha was much more open-minded. It was times like this he dearly missed her and the times they would spend just sitting out here in the garden, drawing whatever caught their eyes._

 _"Do..." Maximillion shifted and pushed his sketchbook towards him, catching Greg by surprise, "Do you want to see?"_

 _Greg instantly smiled, wide and excited, "Yes, please!" Maximillion couldn't help smiling back in response as the sole Butterfly Prince began to carefully flip through his sketchbook._

 _(Flashback 3)_

 _A still thirteen-year-old Maximillion limped into his room, body littered with_ _bruises that made his entire being scream and ache in protest to so much as breathing. No sooner did he get a few steps into the room did his rapier hit the ground near his trembling feet as he shakily tried to get to his bed as his vision started to swim._

 _He made the stupidest mistake of being late to his fencing lessons, having lost all sense of time as he tried to capture a butterfly he had seen in his sketchbook, wanting to get it copied so he could color it and show Cecilia. She had said she had never seen a monarch butterfly before, so he wanted to capture one for her in his own unique way._

 _He also made the stupidest mistake of somehow putting his book in his bag and his father had seen it. Needless to say, Harold was not pleased._

 _Maximillion gasped in pain as his legs finally caved, but someone, two long-lithe, but strong arms, caught him before he could hit the ground. Despite is blurry vision and the ringing in his ears, he could clearly hear the soft, **"Levitato."** And can somewhat see the green shimmering aura of magic encase his bed and pull the sheets and comforter back as he was lifted like a infant._

 _He couldn't help the whimper of pain as he was set on the bed, wanting to pass out, but willed himself to look up, his vision continued to swim, but he could just vaguely make out the glowing green teardrops on his savoir's cheeks as she gently carded one hand through his hair and kept the other on his stomach, softly reciting something he couldn't make out as more green and gold lights flowed._

 _Soon sweet refill began to filter through his body and he couldn't help smiling, repeating mindlessly, "Thank you..."_

 _The unknown young woman, who couldn't have been older then eighteen, just smiled, blue eyes gleaming softly in her magic's light against her dark curls, "Anytime, Hermanito*..." Before leaning to press a gently, familial kiss to the slumbering boy's forehead._

 _(Flashbacks End)_

With one last breath, Pegasus opened his eyes and shook his head. He refused to lose his composure, not now. Especially not over someone so foul.

He then looked over to Joey, focusing back on his task, _'As for Joey...'_ Pegasus couldn't help a tiny smile as he saw Joey's deep love and devotion to his sister, as well as the developing bond between him and Stephanie during their time in the tournament, _'His sister and Stephanie, my, my...so while one is driven by bitter vengeance and dark lust, the other is motivated by love and friendship; why it's quite literally a battle of good vs evil; deal nor no, this duel only has one conclusion.'_

Marco and Star looked at the man they had watched grow up along side their own children with concern, before sharing a look. Star sighed and gave a helpless shrug.

"Come on, let's continue this duel, dweeb," Bandit Keith said pulling the King and Queen back to the duel, "I've got plenty more machine monsters geared up and ready to steamroll your life-points," Joey furrowed his brows, but said nothing and let Keith keep going, "You're nothing but a speed bump on my way to facing Pegasus, and the same goes to your dweeb and puny friends of yours, Yugi and Stephanie." Both Marco and Star, as well as Pearl and the other Gems all tensed and frowned at the obvious aim at Stephanie.

Joey, however, let his shoulders relax as an amused smile spread across his face.

"Yeah right Keith," Joey scoffed. "What you say?" Bandit Keith demanded grinting his teeth.

"I got news for you pal, even _if_ you beat me," Joey said stressing the 'if', "Which ya _won't_ , if Yugi doesn't cream ya, Stephanie will, 'n' even _if_ ya _somehow_ by _**some**_ miracle ya beat either of 'em, ya still have tah beat Rex or Kaiba," He then held up a finger, "One of whom is a _National_ Championship runner-up," He then held up a second finger, "'N' the other's a **_World_** Champion, so good luck with that."

Stephanie and Yugi flushed pleasantly at the faith Joey showed in their skills, while Rex and Seto both blinked, clearly not expecting the sudden acknowledgement of their accomplishments, but smirked, seeing the intended intimidation had seemed to work a bit, judging from Keith's sudden paling at the reminder. Lapis smirked as Joey verbally defended himself and attacked Keith at the same time.

"Ya wanna why?" Joey continued, on a roll, "Because creepy, disgustin' old perverts who don't deserve the air they breath like you never win!"

"Perverts?" Everyone echoed aloud as Bandit Keith paled and Stephanie tensed. "Oi, watch who you're callin' old!" Bandit Keith shouted in annoyance, trying to draw attention away from the 'pervert' comment. "Joey!" Stephanie called.

"Stephanie, I know better than anyone else here save maybe Kaiba just how strong ya really are!" Joey countered giving her a pointed look, "You didn't bat an eye lid or give Panik any help or second chances after Jasper beat him, why give _**him**_ a free pass?" Yugi and Co cringed at the reminder, while the others all looked confused and Jasper just looked indifferent, despite that small dots of teal that formed along her brow as she narrowed her eyes at the memory.

Stephanie looked down in response, unable to find the proper words to answer. Truth being, that moment where she purposely turned away from a life in need of help, it disturbed her; how she felt nothing at that exact moment; not fear, not concern, not even the littlest shred of sorrow of the life lost or a flutter of happiness that a psychotic, sadistic tormentor could no longer prey on anyone again, just nothing. Hell, even now, she still didn't feel as much remorse as she thought she would and it still scared her. That somehow she was falling prey to the dormant instincts that her mother somehow fought and ignored for millennia and slowly becoming the emotionless soldier Homeworld Quartzes were originally meant to be.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, the idea of her mother being like Jasper once and the chance she could become that had always been something of a hidden, however improbable, fear that started haunting her more the more she thought about her mother's decisions. It was the main reason she refused to let Primrose take action. If she could show so little care, what would her 'darker' half do?

"Stephanie?" Star questioned confused, but Stephanie didn't dare glance up.

"Joey?" Yugi questioned lost, but blinked when Yami suddenly growled, he glanced at his spiritual counterpart and almost flinched at the utterly murderous and down-right hate-filled glare Yami was giving Bandit Keith, recoiling slightly as wine-red hues darkened into a crimson reminiscent of fresh blood with unbridled rage as the Eye of Horus formed on Yami's forehead. A quick glance at the ground confirmed Yami's powers spiking with his anger as the shadows under everyone moved and lashed unnaturally and was glad everyone was so focused on the duel.

"You're cheap, low-blow, dirty, twisted tricks might get ya so far!" Joey continued his momentarily contorted with anger before he tried to calm down, jabbing a thumb to his chest, "But that's before someone with the right intentions show up! Like me 'n' like Yugi 'n' Stephanie too!"

"Oh yeah, we'll see about that," Bandit Keith said not looking too pleased with Joey's speech, "One card face-down, and I attack with this!" Bandit Keith summoned a new monster that sent a brief shiver down the Gems' spines, "My Barrel Dragon!"

It was clearly a mechanized dragon, all sleek, sharp black and dark grey armor with some indigo in the joints, armed with three, long, sleek cannons, one on each shoulder and the third replacing its upper-face. The cannons all glowed with an almost rainbow-light effect from its multiple colors.

 **Barrel Dragon. Attribute: DARK. Tribe: MACHINE/EFFECT. Lv: 7. ATK/DEF: 2600/2200**

"Ya see with its triple-fire laser discharge system, it has three attacks, not just one," Bandit Keith explained his dragon's more unique ability. "Three attacks...but with twenty-six hundred attack points..." Peridot said aloud, eyes dilating in alarmed-realization, "That means-!"

"Say buh-bye to Wheeler's entire line of defense!" Bandit Keith grinned as Barrel Dragon charged its cannons, "Barrel Dragon, Proton Blast!" His dragon then blasted Garoozis and Axe Raider with brilliant green energy blasts from its cannons, destroying the both of them.

"Both...in just one shot..." Tristan said in shock as he, Tea, Bakura and Yugi watched in stunned-silence. The others in the balcony weren't all that stunned, as they had seen monsters like Barrel Dragon before and the Gems, Peridot and Jasper especially, had already seen weaponry that could hit multiple targets at once, this was simply the first time they've seen it on something that was technically, and arguably, sentient.

"Completely totaled them both..." Joey said in shock as his life points dropped.

 **Joey LPs: 850**

"No wonder the clod was acting so confident!" Bismuth exclaimed, "Just look at the weaponry on that thing!"

"Joey really has his work cut out for him now," Tea said in worry. "I wouldn't be too sure of that," Maisie said noting Joey didn't look entirely too worried himself.

 _(Beach City, Sun Incinerator)_

"Hey guys, what are the chances of beating that thing?" Kiki asked nervously as she stared at Barrel Dragon. "Depends on what monsters Wheeler has and what supports he has," Her sister answered.

"Supports?" Peedee asked. "Spells and Trap cards," Buck explained, "They're just as complex as Effect Monsters in their powers."

Kevin nodded in agreement, adding, "Some can increase your monsters power or decrease your opponents, be it temporarily or permanently, it depends on the card."

"And others can destroy monsters or send attacks right back to where they came from," Jamie put in, "Some even bring monsters back after they've been destroyed; its a complex game." The adults all nodded in agreement, already feeling a headache as they thought about it.

Lars hummed, a thought-full expression on his face, which Sadie caught, prompting her to ask, "Something wrong, Lars?"

"Just thinking..." Lars admitted in a soft, but steely tone that had Buck, Jenny, Kevin and Jamie tensing for a moment, especially after catching the furrowed-browed, dark-glint expression on the captain's face, "What did Wheeler mean when he called Keith a pervert?" He then added in thought, pupils flickering between the normal circular shape and a four-pointed one, the shadow of his chair flickering unnaturally without notice, _'And why do I get the feeling like I'm going to kill someone once I find out?'_

 _(Duelist Kingdom)_

Bandit Keith suddenly shivered and sneezed, prompting many to say, more or less out of politeness (guess who), "Bless you."

 _'Why do I get the feeling I just royally pissed off someone I really shouldn't have?'_ Bandit Keith wondered to himself, glancing around confused, but shrugged it off.

"Are ya done yet, Keith?" Joey questioned after drawing, "Cause I already know how tah beat yer toy blaster," Everyone gasped in surprise as Joey summoned a familiar animated clock-wizard, "Meet the master of the past 'n' future!"

"Time Magic!" Time Wizard chirped with a dramatic twirl of his staff, immediately reminding Star and Marco of Skywenne.

 _'The Time Wizard...'_ Bandit Keith thought, recognizing the creature. "You just had to create something time related, didn't you?" This time, it was Star who questioned Pegasus, who smiled innocently.

"The Time Wizard!" Tea and Lapis exclaimed. "That could work," Dorothy said with wide, surprised eyes. "Yeah, if that Time Roulette lands in the right place then Bandit Keith's dragon will rust and corrode," Rex said eyes narrowing at the very monster that handed Joey his victory against him, "Just like how it turned mine into a fossil."

 _(Beach City, Sun Incinerator)_

"Holy shit," Buck said in shock. "So he has one those cards, huh?" Jenny remarked looking torn between amusement and concern. "This just got interesting," Lars mused with a smirk.

"What?" Lars' mother asked in confusion, "What's so unique about this card?"

"Time Wizard is known as one of biggest gamble monsters in the game," Jamie explained in the captain's place, "It all depends on where the hour lands, hence the term 'Time Roulette', if it lands on those red icons; Wheeler's monsters get stronger, while his opponent's gets weaker, but if it lands on a skull; it destroys itself and Wheeler's other monsters and he takes damage."

"But he can't take that much more damage," Connie said in concern.

 _(Duelist Kingdom)_

"'N' I'm not done yet Keith," Joey continued as he summoned a dragon of his own, "I play the Baby Dragon in attack mode!"

His dragon was just as the name suggested, a clear juvenile, roughly the size of Leon or Mokuba, covered in orange scales with a creamy colored chest and neck, the classic bat-like wings and four digit claws and three digit clawed-feet with a distinctive almost dragon-like quality to its appearance and to finish its classic dragon look was a pair of horns on its head, matching the tiny spikes running down its neck to the tip of its tail. Its eyes were were a dark blue that shone with life as he gave a heartfelt war-cry.

 **Baby Dragon. Attribute: WIND. Tribe: DRAGON/NORMAL. Lv: 3. ATK/DEF: 1200/700**

"Aaaah!" Star and Stephanie cooed with starry eyes, "So cute!" Making Baby Dragon face-fault, cheeks reddening in embarrassment with a tiny whine, making Barrel Dragon and Time Wizard chuckle in amusement, which in turn got Baby Dragon a little irritated at them, huffing with a pout.

"Now you got somethin' tah worry 'bout Keith," Joey continued, "That blaster of yers rustin' up 'n' this little guy growin' up!" He then called to his spellcaster, "Let's do this, go Time Roulette!" The arrow on his wizard's staff started to spin on the command and everyone watched intently.

"Of course, should that arrow land on a skull, then Wheeler has a lot more then that dragon to worry about," Seto commented, "Not only will his wizard destroy itself, but so will his own dragon and he'll be completely at Keith's mercy."

"Come on Joey!" Moukba and Leon cheered in turn, Lion yowling along trying to be supportive. "Guess it's all in Fates' hands now," Bakura remarked as Lapis put her hands together in prayer. "Stars, I know I don't do this or every really ask for much, but if you can just give Joey this one spin, I'd be eternally grateful!" Lapis said mostly to herself, gemstone feeling heavier then usual.

"We're all here for you!" Tea and Tristan called. _'Come on Time Wizard...'_ Joey thought. _'Don't land on a skull...'_ Yugi and Stephanie thought, dread building in their hearts as the roulette started to slow down. "Its slowing down!" Tea said in anxious-alarm.

 _'How exciting!'_ Star thought gently gripping her granddaughter's hand in comfort. _'Sure now how to make cards heart-pounding Maxi,'_ Marco remarked to himself eyes on the spinner as it slow slide past the skulls.

Everyone sighed in relief as it landed on one of the red time machines, Joey grinned, "Alright! Go Time Roulette!"

"Time Magic!" Time Wizard obeyed rising its staff up high and began to alter the field, creating a time warp to speed up time.

"Look! Keith's dragon is rusting up!" Tristan exclaimed as Barrel Dragon's sleek armor turned brown as it rusted from the amount of time that accelerated on the field, "It's losing power!'

 **Barrel Dragon. ATK/DEF: 1800/1400**

"While Joey's dragon is _gaining_ power as it evolves!" Tea added as Baby Dragon took a new form.

He aged straight from a juvenile dragon to an elderly one. His scales darken in hue till they turned a distinct brownish color, the cream darkening into a pinkish color as his body got bigger with age. He grew a goatee that was the same brownish color as his scales and his wings grew in size to match his new body.

 **Thousand Dragon. Attribute: WIND. Tribe: DRAGON/FUSION. ATK/DEF: 2400/2000**

"Wow..." Was all Pearl, Marco and Star could say.

"Nice work Joey!" Yugi called with a grin. "The stage is set perfectly!" Stephanie added.

"Got it!" Joey replied before ordering, "Now Thousand Dragon, attack!" His dragon breathed a heavy gust of ash and hot air, destroying the ruined dragon, "Yer dragon's history!"

"But history repeats itself," Bandit Keith said cryptically with a chuckle, much to Joey's confusion, "Which is what happens when you face a deck loaded with all sorts of machine cards," He then revealed his face-down, "Like this trap for example."

Lapis and Joey's eyes widened, "A trap card."

"Say hello to my Time Machine," Bandit Keith said as a large black camber with a clock above the futuristic sliding doors appeared on the field. "You mean..." Joey said in alarm.

"That's right, my Time Machine has to the power to go back in time one full turn," Bandit Keith explained as steam clouds seeped out of the doors, "To bring back a monster you just destroyed." As the doors opened, Barrel Dragon stepped out, looking like Time Wizard never happened, not a sign of rust anywhere and back to full power.

"It looks brand spanking new!" Dorothy said with wide eyes. "Like nothing ever happened..." Jasper said also stunned.

"That's the power of time," Maisie said, "Its not elusive to just spellcasters."

"Go Proton Blast!" Bandit Keith ordered and with another green blast, Thousand Dragon was blasted to pieces.

"He's gone," Joey said in shock, "My dragon's gone..."

"And he's going to stay gone too, unless you got a Time Machine stashed away to bring him back," Bandit Keith chuckled, smirking, "But then he'd be coming back a _baby_ dragon, now wouldn't he?"

"Huh?" Joey blinked before realizing what the older blonde male meant. "That's right, because the Time Machine can only bring back a monster back the way it was one turn before," Peridot remembered. "And because Barrel Dragon only rusted _this_ turn, it came back how it was _last_ turn," Yugi said frowning, "Completely unfazed by Joey's Time Wizard."

"This isn't good," Mako said in concern. "No, it isn't," Bismuth agreed.

"Punk, I knew you'd play that card," Bandit Keith gloated, "I saw you use it when you dueled Bonz in the graveyard, remember?"

"A duel is more then just about the cards ya use," Joey remarked. "Yeah, they're about backbone too," Bandit Keith retorted smugly with a smirk, "Which, judging from the look on your face when my dragon returned, you don't even have one."

"I'll play a monster in defense mode," Joey said placing a card face-down after drawing, "And that's it."

"That's it is right, cause my machines are going to keep on coming!" Bandit Keith grinned playing a new card, "Like this one, Slot Machine in attack mode!"

Keith's monster was exactly as the name suggested, a large yellow slot machine with yellow armored limbs with sharp, metal appendages that almost looked like claws and a blue dome for a head. Its classic three wheel-slots were all set with big red question marks.

 **Slot Machine. Attribute: DARK. Tribe: MACHINE. Lv: 7. ATK/DEF: 2000/2300**

"Now Barrel Dragon, attack!" Bandit Keith ordered and his metallic dragon complied, shooting down Joey's defense monster, blasting it to pieces.

 _(Beach City, Sun Incinerator)_

"This isn't looking good for Mr. Wheeler," Mr. Smiley remarked. "Understatement, I bet the only reason Bandit Keith summoned that Slot Machine was to lure Wheeler into summoning a monster in attack mode to destroy it, just to turn around and destroy that monster with his Barrel Dragon," Connie hypothesized frowning.

"Is there anyway for Joey to turn this around?" Peedee asked in concern. "No way for us to say," Buck answered. "He's a new face to the pro-circuit, remember?" Jamie reminded curtly, "This is literally his debut, we have no idea what kind of monsters he has, much less magic or trap cards he can support them with."

"But you must admit," Lars mused with a tiny smile, "It will be interesting to see how Wheeler conquers this..." Connie cringed and looked uncomfortable at the use of the word 'conquers', immediately thinking of the Diamonds and the colony she had seen from the Jungle Moon incident.

 _(Duelist Kingdom)_

"Poor Joey," Tea said in concern. "He's in a real tight spot right now," Tristan said. "Any ideas how Goldie Locks is going to get out of this one?" Jasper asked glancing over the group for an answer. "None whatsoever," Mako answered. "I can think of one combination of cards that could stand a chance," Rex remarked thoughtfully, but didn't look very hopeful of the fact, "But Wheeler doesn't have one of the cards to pull it off."

 _'Joey...you can do it...!'_ Stephanie thought with conviction, fists tightening in the pillow she was holding.

"Joey, believe in your cards!" Yugi called out supportively, "You're going to need them if you're going to beat that thing!"

"One card face down," Joey said, but then held up another, "And..." He then summoned his ace, "The Red Eyes Black Dragon in attack mode!" Red light and black electricity raced across Joey's field, making Barrel Dragon and Slot Machine recoil, as if afraid of getting electrocuted, before Joey's black-scaled dragon appeared in all its dark and fierce glory with a roar that shook the arena.

Marco and Star gasped in awe, but Star's eyes were wide in shocked-recognition as she thought, _'I know that beast!'_

 _(Flashback)_

 _A thirty-year-old Star sighed irritably as she trekked down the halls of restored and refurbished of what would one day be the First Castle Butterfly. Echo Creek had been generous in restoring her family's old home, but at times, it felt more like a crypt or a historical prison then a home. It came to a heading that for the sake of comprimse, especially with the more traditionalists of the Mewmans and the Monsters that just felt more comfortable with a Monarch, the Butterflies would continue to remain royalty with Eclipsa and Globgor as the figure heads for the Monster Faction, and Moon and River leading the Mewmans all over again. But now, the newly adult-once-again Meteora took her mother's place as one of the two Queens just as Star herself did for her mother with Marco as her king once Moon deemed ready to step down a little after her granddaughter's eighth birthday._

 _She had just finished nursing her baby boy, when an out-of-breath Mariposa had burst into the room, exclaiming that her daughter had once again disappeared. Star honestly hadn't been entirely surprised. That was her girl after all, and Winny had always preferred being at the Diaz's household then in the castle._

 _Unfortunately, as close as they were, Mari never could fine all of Winny's hiding places nor could she ever get used to the castle halls. Marco was still in a meeting with Tom and other Kings for some thing or other. And she knew Meteora didn't have the patience for Winny's games at that moment._

 _Thus, Star found herself searching for her now nine-year-old firstborn. Following well-hidden, meaningful little clues in the form of colorful sticky notes with a moon that had been shaded in to make a waxing crescent with a little message written on the back:_

 ** _'Try to find me'_**

 _And to be honest, she was getting tired and frustrated. She knew her daughter was good a hiding, but usually it wasn't at her expanse, and Star knew when Winona Janna Diaz didn't want to be found, she wasn't._

 _The twenty-ninth sticky-note was usually the first clue to that._

 _There was a reason she and Eclipsa got along as well as they did._

 _But a glow of light caught her attention just as she passing a corridor and she looked back around the corner to see a door open. She lifted her skirts to hurry over, especially when she realized which door it was._

 _Sure enough, when she looked in, there was her little girl, standing before one of the many different tapestries that had been made over the years the Butterfly Family had been in power; the ones of the past from before Skywenne, Queen of Hours. The hall was long, long enough to hold the many tapestries and still have room for more. It was all lit up eeriely with silver candle holders, the kind mounted up high on the walls, casting a type of light and shadow that made the tapestries look older than they were._

 _And looking up at one in particular was a little nine-year-old girl with Latina-tanned skin and short, chocolate-brown curls that ghosted her shoulders with Star's round cheeks. She had a mole similar to Marco and Mariposa, and her eyes were the same dark brown, framed with thick, long, curly lashes and filled with a child-like wonder and curiosity as she looked up at the illustration woven into the decorative cloth. Dressed in a simple, but cute dark indigo dress with little bell-sleeves with a violet ribbon around her waist, she was well-deserving of her Butterfly name, for she almost blended in and vanished into the heavy shadows and dark blues of the room; would've too if it hadn't been for the candle-light._

 _"Winny, there you are," Star breathed in relief as she walked further into the room to retrieve her eldest, "What have **Papi**** and I say about venturing this far into the castle without someone?"_

 _"Sorry **Mami***** ," Little Winny apologized softly, eyes still on the tapestry before her, before asking, "Who she? And what is she riding?"_

 _Star looked at the queen in questioned and felt her stomach tighten. This particular queen reminded her a bit of Eclipsa in her choice of color in her fashion, being predominantly black with grey and white. She honestly reminded Star of Earth's Victorian-era English women with her buisness-woman-like attire, despite being a Queen from an older era then even Solaria and Skywenne. She was dressed in a white buttoned-up blouse with a black necktie under a long black trench coat that was open and slipped a little off one shoulder and a black pencil skirt that was long enough given the era, reaching past her knees, but had a slit that traveled up the front of her left leg with a pair of charcoal grey leggings and a pair of black, four-inch-skinny-heeled leather boots with skull-shaped buckles made of silver, matching her fingerless gloves, her extensive nails were painted black._

 _She had a set of unique scars; one across one side of her face just above one of her cheek marks and another across her neck, as if her assailant tried to both disfigure her and slit her throat._

 _Her cheek marks were a snow-white pair of skulls. Outlined by a thick black border to separate the marks from her porcelain skin._

 _Her long hair was a silvery-grey color, reaching down her back just a bit past her waist. A single, thin braid hung over one shoulder._

 _Her face was set in a silly grin despite the fiery light in her chartreuse greenish-yellow eyes. Clearly having enjoyed her battle._

 _Her wand...it sent a chill like no other down Star's spine._

 _Her wand was a scythe. A scythe made from a skeleton._

 _The spine and lower backbone made the handle, making it taller than the Queen herself. The rib-cage sat near the top, wrapped in thorny vines, within it, embedded into the spine, was the crystal; a pear-cut diamond. The skull sat at the top-end, its empty sockets filled with fully-bloomed black roses, the delicate, rare-colored blossoms protruded from the holes, framed by dark emerald leaves, and the silvery blade gleamed from where it protruded from the back of the skull._

 _She stood atop a creature that could only exist in one's nightmare, the way the tapestry framed the Queen and Beast among-st a landscape of hellfire. The tapestry was a zoomed up shot of the queen standing proud and ready for battle atop the creature's head, but even that gave way to how big it must've been in real-life. A dragon._

 _Unlike Nachos. This was a true, one of a kind, pure-bred dragon of legend. Something out of an Earth story book or fantasy movie. Of sleek scales black as night with eyes red as freshly spilled blood. Maw open in what surely would've been a ground-razing roar or shriek._

 _Star didn't need to look down to known who it was._

 _It was a Queen that Star both respected and feared._

 _Someone she prayed to her daughter would never learn about:_

 ** _"Her name was Asteria**** the Grim Reaper*****."_**

 _(Flashback End)_

Star covered her mouth in shock, even if the tapestry had only been a head-shot of the dragon itself, there was no denying it. That was Asteria Butterfly's Dragon of Darkness, her acer, her one and true partner in battle. And somehow, Pegasus turned it into a card.

"Red Eyes..." Rex breathed as he looked up at his former dragon.

Red Eyes heard him and looked over at his previous master, its face appeared to soften a little, a gently croon filtered through the arena speakers. Before it turned back to its new opponents and its expression molded back into a determined one, patiently awaiting orders, growling menacingly.

"That Red Eyes maybe the best thing you got in your entire deck, dweeb," Bandit Keith grinned smugly, "But its still no match for my Barrel Dragon," The dragon in questioned leveled its cannons, aiming for Red Eyes, who shrieked as if daring it to attack, "Say adios to your best monster, punk!" He then ordered, "Proton Blast!"

Joey smirked as Barrel Dragon fired, "Not so fast Keith."

"What?" Bandit Keith asked startled. "If ya hadn't been so quick tah attack, ya would've noticed the trap I set fer ya," Joey quipped with a smile.

"A trap?" Bandit Keith said in shock as Joey revealed a card depicting what looked like a jester holding a glowing mirror in front of its face in one hand and its free hand was spread open, revealing the open eye on the palm.

"It's a little somethin' called Copycat," Joey explained as Bandit Keith stared in alarm, "It lets me copy one card that you've used and I choose to copy Metalmorph!" With the chosen card copied, Red Eyes began to change, "Now my Red Eyes Black Dragon is a Red Eyes Black _**Metal**_ Dragon."

Red Eyes' scaled elongated oh so slightly, turning even sleeker and looking even sharper as they turned to metal. Its entire body seemed to gleam under the light, eyes glowing with bloodlust as it released a new roar, flaring its wings and lashing its tail in a show of power.

 **Red Eyes Black Metal Dragon. Attribute: DARK. Tribe: MACHINE/EFFECT. Lv: 8. ATK/DEF: 2800/2400**

"Making him strong enough to withstand yer attack!" Joey exclaimed as the Proton Blast harmlessly bounced off Red Eyes, who growled.

"Now Keith's dragon is the one that's weaker!" Mokuba cheered. "Yah!" Leon cheered as well. "Now Keith's the one in trouble!" Yugi grinned as well as Lapis punped a fist into the air in glee.

"Red Eyes, counter attack!" Joey ordered as a glow of red and black filled his dragon's mouth, "Flash Flare Blast!" Red Eyes tilted his head back as he opened his jaws, creating a large red sphere of fire-like energy that cackled with black electricity, throwing his head forward, Red Eyes launched, obliterating Barrel Dragon. Bandit Keith gritted his teeth as his life points dropped once more.

 **Bandit Keith LPs: 900**

"How do ya like that Keith?" Joey taunted, "Your triple blaster is now a pile of scrap metal," He then thought, _'And with my sister's sight on the line, I plan tah get even tougher on ya!'_

"Check it out, with Keith's Barrel Dragon gone, Joey's Red Eyes is the toughest card on the block!" Tristan exclaimed. "Don't go counting your chickens until they hatch, Taylor," Maisie remarked much to the group's surprise. "Don't forget, Bandit Keith still has his Slot Machine," Mokuba added in the AI's defense, "I might not be a great duelist, but I know he didn't summon that thing without a reason."

Mokuba was proven right when Keith started to chuckle, then outright laugh before saying, "I knew you were an amateur, now I'm going to show you how come!"

"Huh?" Joey asked looking very lost, "Amateur? Correct me if I'm wrong, but...didn't I just blast yer best monster tah bits?"

"Keep talking tough guy," Bandit Keith said making his move, "I play this card face-down and switch my Slot Machine to defense mode." His yellow machine knelt down and crossed its metal arms in acceptance of the switch.

 _'He must be losing it, that thing can't take a blast from Red Eyes no matter which mode he's in,'_ Joey thought scratching his head, trying to figure out what Keith might have planned, but then shrugged, _'Ah well, guess he'll learn the hard way 'n' in retrospect, it'll just get me closer tah gettin' justice, so, who am I tah complain?'_ Out loud, he ordered, "First I'll play a card face down and now, Red Eyes will attack, Flash Flare Blast!"

With a screech, Red Eyes launched another attack at Slot Machine, but Bandit Keith smirked, "Told you, you were an amateur," He then flipped his face-down, callling out, "Go Seven-Completed!" The middle slot on Slot Machine's chest suddenly spun, like someone had pulled its lever, before slowing down and stopping on a big red seven.

Everyone, save Seto and Rex, gasped in surprise, Tea being the one to ask, "Why did that slot just switch to a seven?"

When the attack hit, the dust settled to reveal Slot Machine still standing without so much as a scratch or a dent, the slot still on a seven.

"That's because my Seven-Completed card raises either the defense or attack power of my Slot Machine by seven hundred points," Bandit Keith explained with a smug smirk, "I choose to raise my Slot Machine defense to three thousand."

 **Slot Machine. ATK/DEF: 2000/3000**

"And my attack is lower then its defense," Joey said in horrified-realization, "I lose life points."

 **Joey LPs: 450**

"Damn it!" Yugi cursed frowning, "And that Flash Flare Blast is the strongest attack Joey has too!"

"This isn't looking good," Jasper admitted. "Hey wait a minute!" Rex suddenly shouted getting everyone's attention, as he pointed at Yugi, "Muto just cursed and I don't see any shoes getting thrown at him!"

Stephanie titled her head in confusion, "I didn't hear any cursing," She turned to her grandparents, "Grandma?"

"I didn't hear any," Star answered instantly. "Grandpa?" Stephanie asked. Marco wrung out his ear, "Sorry."

"Seriously!" Rex shouted leaning on the rail dramatically, only to slip and nearly fall with a startled yell, making everyone else shout as Mako quickly grabbed the Dino Duelist and pulled him back to safety. "Perhaps it would best to calm down before someone actually hurts themselves?" Bakura suggested with a sweatdrop.

"Man this stinks!" Tristan said pounding a fist against the rail. Bismuth, confused, took a sniff in the air, before saying, "I don't smell anything bad." Making all the humans sigh.

"Want to know what else I got?" Bandit Keith asked Joey rhetorically, "Two more Seven-Completed cards in my deck; both able to raise my Slot Machine's attack or defense by another seven hundred points each."

"Yeah, well, just cause ya have 'em doesn't mean ya'll draw 'em, Keith!" Joey retorted snarkily. _'Wanna bet, punk?'_ Bandit Keith thought with a smirk as he drew his next card before discreetly slipping out a card from under his wristband.

"Hmm?" Pegasus and Marco both glanced over at the movement, but neither male said anything for different reasons.

"Well, well, lookie here," Bandit Keith smirked as he revealed a second Seven-Completed, "I think I'll take it for a spin; this time for my attack power."

The slot on the left spun like the first one did, slowly stopping on another seven and boosted Slot Machine's attack.

 **Slot Machine. ATK/DEF: 2700/3000**

"One more of those Seven-Completed cards and that thing will be stronger then Joey's dragon!" Yugi said in alarm. "And any other monster Joey tries to throw at it!" Bakura added. "Is there any card Joey might have that can beat that thing?" Lapis asked in concern.

Stephanie instinctively clutched at her skirt, having a horrible feeling in her chest and a heavy feeling growing in the pit of her stomach, _'Joey...'_

 _'Oh man, I gotta do somethin' quick or my life points will be wiped out,'_ Joey thought in worry. "Next I'll play Blast Sphere," Bandit Keith continued summoning his smallest monster thus far.

It was more or less a red sphere with a blue knob or button, resembling a bomb of sorts, and had five, spider-like, blade-hook legs.

 **Blast Sphere. Attribute: DARK. Tribe: MACHINE/EFFECT. Lv: 4. ATK/DEF: 1400/1400**

"Now attack yourself to Joey's dragon," Bandit Keith ordered and Blast Sphere shot forward, wrapping its blade-like legs around its torso, startling Red Eyes as it tried to scratch Blast Sphere off, to no success.

Pearl had a good idea what it did as a familiar ticking sound started to fill the arena.

"Blast Sphere?" Joey asked in confusion. "Any ideas?" Tristan asked his school-mates. "Never heard of it," Tea replied.

"Once I end my turn, it'll self-destruct and deal twenty-nine-hundred points of damage to your dragon!" Bandit Keith smirked widely, glancing over at Stephanie, who looked very worried and down-right horrified by his words as she stared up at Red Eyes with alarm and concern, _'I'm going to enjoy this win!'_

Everyone up in the balcony gasped in alarm as Joey cried out in shocked-horror, "Self-Destruct!"

"Alright, dweeb, I'm ending my turn right now," Bandit Keith smirked making Joey grit his teeth before quickly flipping his face down, not that Keith noticed as Blast Sphere went off, "Say bye-bye to your dragon!" Bandit Keith chuckled, only to be stunned when the smoke cleared to reveal Red Eyes was completely unharmed without so much as a scratch, claws gaining a metallic sheen.

"What the...this can't be real!" Bandit Keith exclaimed in shock. "Oh its real alright," Joey said revealing his face-down, "Thanks to my handy Dragon Nails' card; it increases my dragon's attack by six hundred points, making it stronger than yer Barrel Dragon."

 **Red Eyes Metal Dragon. ATK/DEF: 3400/2400**

"So that means..." Bismuth grinned. "The blast got deflected!" Tristan finished for her, fist pumping at the turn around.

"You dweeb!" Bandit Keith snarled, "Now my life points go down!"

 **Bandit Keith LPs: 400**

"Aww, yer gonna make me cry!" Joey said sarcastically, making Stephanie, Dorothy, Tea, Star, Mokuba, Leon, Lapis and Peridot giggle, while Bismuth outright cackled.

Even Pearl cracked a grin of amusement, which made Bakura flush upon noticing how it seemed to light up her face. Ryou couldn't bring himself to look away, almost completely forgetting about the duel as he focused on the elegant beauty of the pale Gem, eyes getting glazed and unfocused.

Tea noticed and gave the white-blonde a tiny poke, asking hesitantly, "Ugh...you okay Bakura?"

The spirit of the ring almost didn't notice it, but thankfully he did, and quickly snapped his lighter half out of it with a spiritual slap upside the head and a mental shout of, _"RA DAMN IT ALL!"_ Which caused Ryou to nearly face-plant right into rail had he not caught himself.

Though, Yugi and Stephanie both jumped in surprise and looked around confused. Even Yami and Primrose looked perplexed.

 _'Now that's odd, I could've sworn I heard someone else up here,'_ Yugi thought confused. _'Weird, I could've sworn I heard someone curse,'_ Stephanie thought also confused as both petite teens scratched their heads in confoundment.

Their dark halves weren't much better, _**"I could've sworn I heard that thief..."**_

Akifa paled and quickly retreated back into the ring, but not before sparing one last longing glance towards Pearl.

Ryou rubbed the back of his head, smiling sheepishly at Tea, reassuring her, "Find, just fine!"

 _'Oh, I'll make you cry alright...'_ Bandit Keith thought darkly as he drew, pulling another card from his wristband like before, "Well, well, what do you know," He revealed another Seven-Completed, "I think I'll give it another spin; this time for my attack power!" The third and final slot spun and landed on another seven.

 **Slot Machine. ATK/DEF: 3400/3000**

"Now both their monsters are equally matched in strength!" Bakura said anxiously. "It's a stalemate!" Bismuth exclaimed.

"But Joey has more life points," Leon pointed out. "Yeah, well, tides can turn," Mokuba replied as Lion purred thoughtfully.

"This next turn could decide the whole duel," Yugi said in worry as Joey looked to his hand for ideas to see his Shield and Sword magic card, the card that helped him bet Bonz.

 _'The Shield and Sword card, if I played this it would swap both monster's attack and defense points,'_ Joey thought out his options, _'But that would just help Keith out.'_ Joey then drew his next card and his eyes narrowed slightly at it, which the entire Royal Family noticed with interest as he set it down on the console face-down rather than add it to his hand.

"Come on, no card you play is going to save you, just end your turn," Bandit Keith told the younger blonde, who begrudgingly nodded to signal the end of his turn, "Thanks," Joey looked confused, "Now then, I think I'll end this duel with one magic card," He held up a spell card with the picture of a thief on it, "The Pillager."

Seto, Rex, Dorothy and Mako's eyes widened in surprise at the card and after a moment of recognition, so did Yugi, Ryou and Stephanie's eyes.

"The what?" Joey said confused. "The Pillager lets me look at your hand and steal one card from it," Bandit Keith explained much to Joey's shock. "Say what!" Joey shouted.

"Its like Exchange," Yugi and Stephanie murmured thoughtfully.

"C'mon, show 'em," Bandit Keith said. "Aw man," Joey groaned as he laid his cards down on certain panels on the console, showing them to Keith.

Bandit Keith looked over the presented cards carefully, eyes lighting up behind his sunglasses in recognition to a certain spell card, "The Shield and Sword card, perfect," He picked up his choice, "I think I'll take this one."

When the cards returned to Joey, the younger blonde growled as he realized which card the older duelist took.

"Go Shield and Sword!" Bandit Keith called playing the stolen card, "Swap attack points with defense points!" Stephanie and Lapis gasped in horror as the holograms of both monsters began to fizzle and blur with the effects of the card, the two's states flipping.

 **Red Eyes Metal Dragon. ATK/DEF: 2400/3400**

 **Slot Machine. ATK/DEF: 3000/34000**

 _(Beach City, Sun Incinerator)_

"Oh no!" Connie and Peedee gasped in alarm. "If Bandit Keith's attack hits Wheeler's done for!" Kevin exclaimed. "By his own spell card, no less!" Jamie added in surprised-alarm.

"I predict the duel is about to draw to an alarming finish!" Padparascha yelped hands on her cheeks from her place at Lar's left. "What can he do?" Rhodonite asked in a panicky tone, eyes wide.

Lars remained silent, hands gripping his arm-rests tight.

 _(Duelist Kingdom)_

"Now Slot Machine destroy his Red Eyes with Plasma Laser Cannon!" Bandit Keith ordered prompting his machine to raise its arms and charge with energy, preparing to attack as Red Eyes growled threateningly, _'Looks like she's mine!'_

Joey quickly flipped his face-down while yelling, "Activate trap!"

But Bandit Keith either didn't hear or care, "Attack!" His machine fired, the attack made Red Eyes screech as clouds of dust were kicked up and Bandit Keith laughed wickedly, "I win!" But gasped in shock as a small figure was vaguely visible through the smoke, "No...way..."

Creepy laughter broke through as the smoke cleared to reveal a little, floating imp or creeper-fiend creature, it almost looked like a doll or puppet, with clammy-looking, bluish-tinted-grey skin, wearing what resembled a traditional green undertaker outfit, complete with a long hat that hid its eyes. A pickaxe, shovel and even a tombstone was strapped to its back. Clutched in its gloved hands was Bandit Keith's Time Machine card.

 _'The dweeb had a Graverobber card?'_ Bandit Keith though recoiling from the shock, _'And he used it to bring back my Time Machine trap!'_

"Guess you should've paid more attention to my last turn Keith," Joey remarked, "Maybe then ya would've notice the little trap I set for ya."

"And since the Time Machine can bring back a monster from the previous turn..." Bandit Keith began as Lapis started to cackle along with Rex, Peridot, Bismuth, Jasper and, surprisingly, Ryou, Star and Marco, the blonde's eyes widened behind in glasses in horrified-realization, "That means-!"

"Bingo," Joey grinned widely as the Time Machine appeared on his field, "My dragon's back...!" The doors slowly opened, spilling out more fog across the field as two gleaming red eyes shone from within the dark chamber, "And his attack is higher then your defense, so good luck blockin' this!" Red Eyes released a guttural, vicious growl as it stepped out of the machine, stats back to how it was before Shield and Sword was used.

"Yeah!" Stephanie cheered leaping to her feet, fists above her head in elated-glee, much to her family's amusement. "Finish him!" Jasper and Bismuth called.

"Red Eyes counter-attack!" Joey ordered, "Flash Flare Blast!" His dragon unleashed its attack, destroying Slot Machine easily.

"He beat me..." Bandit Keith almost whispered in shock, dropping his remaining cards as his life points dropped for the final time, "He actually won..."

 **Bandit Keith LPs: 0**

"Joey Wheeler!" Croquet announced, "You are the victor!"

"Hey, alright!" Joey grinned in victory. "He did it!" Lapis cheered loudly in glee, grabbing an equally elated Leon and started spinning around with him, making Leon laugh despite almost dropping his banner had Lion and Mokuba not grabbed it in time. "Joey!" Tea, Dorothy and Peridot cheered as everyone else smiled, even Jasper, Seto and Rex cracked little ones. "Yeah, you lose!" Tristan grinned jumping onto the rail in elation, only to nearly fall with a yell, making Bismuth, Ryou and Yugi yell as they rushed to grab him and pull him back.

 _(Beach City, Sun Incinerator)_

"He did it!" Connie and Peedee cheered hugging each other in glee as the adults all sighed in relief. "Boo-yeah!" Kiki cheered.

"Now that was a heart-racing match," Jenny sighed hand over her rapidly beating heart. "Hair-raising is the term I'd use," Kevin chuckled along, hand on his chest as well. "More like blood-pumping," Jamie giggled.

"Same Sour Cream had to miss that," Buck sighed missing his blonde companion, "Where did he go anyways?"

"Said something about an appointment he can't miss," Kevin shrugged.

"What a twist!" The Right Rutile exclaimed, both grinning. "I never saw it coming!" The Left Rutile added.

Rhodonite let out of a groan of relieved-tension before fainting right out of her chair, prompting a chirp from Padparascha, "Someone catach Rhodonite, she's going to faint!"

Lars chuckled, softly patting his Sapphire's head, "A few seconds late, Paddy, but getting there." Making the orange Sapphire beam.

Lars then smiled knowingly towards the screen, _'Wonder what **she** thought.'_

 _(Duelist Kingdom)_

 _'Remarkable, Keith's rampage for revenge was halted by Joey's quest for a loved one,'_ Pegasus thought with a fond smile. _'He won...he actually won...'_ Pearl thought in pleasant surprise.

Meanwhile, up in the rafters above the arena, sitting casually on one of the beams was the cloaked figure from the hall, cloak now hanging back, reveal it to be a young woman in a brown, ankle-long, A-line skirt that was held in place with a simple black belt with a silver buckle and a white, long-sleeved, button-up blouse, a pair of white stockings and black dress shoes. With her hood still up, her face was still heavily shadowed, especially with the dark arena she was seated, short dark curls fell peeked out the folds.

The woman gave a tiny smile before it fell back into a tight frown before turning her head to her left to see Glossaryck floating nearby.

"Am I to assume this means your going through with it?" Glossaryck asked her arching a brow questioningly.

The woman huffed in response returning her attention to the arena below as a loud thud was heard from Bandit Keith slamming his on the console before shouting, "This duel doesn't count!"

Everyone looked to the older blonde confused and a bit exasperated.

"Doesn't count?" The Gems all repeated in confused-disbelief. "Seriously?" Mokuba asked in disbelief. "What now?" Rex asked unamused.

"Keith just doesn't know how to give up," Tristan remarked.

"The entry card Wheeler used isn't even his!" Bandit Keith stated matter-of-factly, causing the entire Butterfly family to arch a brow, "Therefore the duel shouldn't count, so he should be disqualified right here!"

 _(Beach City, Sun Incinerator)_

"What a sore loser," Jenny muttered in disdain. "Wait...how would he know that?" Connie questioned as Rhodonite sat back into her chair.

 _(Duelist Kingdom)_

"He ain't wrong," Joey admitted holding up his entry card, "I couldn't find my card anywhere, even with Lapis and Maisie's help."

"You nearly smothered me with a comforter!" Maisie reminded making many sweat-drop. "Maisie...how many times to do I have to remind you that you're a AI?" Seto questioned pinching the bridge of his nose, "You don't breath period."

"So Mai gave me hers," Joey continued before glaring at Bandit Keith, "So, tell me Keith, how could you have known this wasn't my card?" Bandit Keith gulped nervously, realizing he just put himself into worser corner, "Well, I'm all ears; after all, the only ones in that hallway besides me 'n' Mai was Lapis and Maisie."

"Yeah, how could Bandit Keith know that wasn't Joey's card?" Peridot asked suspiciously. "He was at the arena the entire time, he never left once," Bakura added hands on his hips. "The only way Keith could know that and be so sure Wheeler would never find is if..." Seto said as realization started to dawn on him and the other Finalists.

"Exactly, Kaiba-boy, Keith stole Joey's card," Pegasus revealed, "Its how he was so sure Joey would never be able to find it before the timer ran out."

"You snake, I knew you wouldn't make a bet like that without some kinda trick up yer slimey sleeve!" Joey yelled furiously, gaining everyone's confused-interest, even Stephanie and Glossaryck looked lost, while Bandit Keith paled even further. "Bet?" Tea questioned, "What bet?"

"Is that what they were talking about before all this started?" Bismuth wondered looking to Jasper, who shrugged.

"I don't know what your talkin' about!" Bandit Keith tried to back-track and deny. "Don't even try it!" Joey snapped furiously, "I might've failed Steph back at the Graveyard but time I-!" Joey cut himself off with a gasp and wide eyes as something finally clicked in his head.

He thought back to the Graveyard duel, particularly how close Bandit Keith had been to her and how from his position in the arena, he couldn't see Bandit Keith's hands very well. He then remembered Stephanie's teary and stressed out expression, and how upset she was even after Yami rescued her.

Without warning, Joey's eyes started to bleed red as he slammed his hands down in utter rage onto the console, making even Pegasus, Pearl, Bismuth and Jasper jump, startled as he almost screamed in fury, "I'M GOIN' TAH KILL YOU!" Bandit Keith recoiled nervously as everyone else gasped in shock, having never seen this sort of behavior from the normally laid-back blonde, even Seto was a bit put-off.

The only one who wasn't entirely stunned or put-off was Tristan, who turned a suspicious glare at Keith. The last time Joey acted like this was when some slime-ball teacher at Serenity's school was arrested for abuse of his students and Serenity had admitted to being physically abused, but thankfully nothing past a slap or being dragged by the hair. It wasn't until a doctor looked at her that Joey was able to cool his blood-lust.

"YOU TOUCHED HER THEN TOO, DIDN'T YOU!" Joey roared his accusation and a sharp chill filled the air as the weight of it settled into the minds of everyone else and Stephanie looked stunned and about to cry.

"WHAAAAAAT?!" Was the united scream of everyone else present, save for a very confused and lost Leon, who was too young and innocent to understand the gravity of the situation, Mokuba only understood because Seto was paranoid and wanted his brother prepared since being a Kaiba put a big fat target on the boy's back. The figure above next to Glossaryck jaw-dropped in shock, before a murderous green aura surrounded her as she ground her teeth together, and Lion snarled angrily.

"Joey, I-" Stephanie tried to talk. "BUT NOTHIN' STEPHANIE!" Joey interrupted, "IF I DIDN'T SHOW UP HE WOULD'VE RAPED YOU!"

"WHAT?" Everyone screamed again, now glaring furiously at Keith, who shrunk back as both royals stood up. But Star immediately turned to her granddaughter and hugged her as tears ran down the girl's cheeks, "Why didn't you-?"

"I...I didn't...want...t-to look...weak..." Stephanie admitted softly, the sound pulled at her grandparents and Pegasus' chests and made Pearl's gemstone feel like it was going to crack, "I'm not...I'm not suppose to be weak! I-I..." Stephanie whimpered into her grandmother's hold and hugged her back as she sobbed, the trauma of the experience finally taking its toll. Star's heart broke as she held her granddaughter tight, gently rubbed her back.

Tea and Dorothy had their mouths covered in shocked-horror as understanding and horror past through everyone on the balcony, save Leon who was still confused. Anger, however, quickly filled the males as well as the Gems very quickly.

"How did no one notice...?" Tristan questioned himself. "Her skirt...!" Peridot realized, making them look to her, "He must've used her dress' skirt and the angle they were sitting at to hide his hand."

Ryou glowered uncharacteristically that surprised his dark half because it was all Ryou, "How much you want to bet he was touching her last night too during dinner?"

Everyone fell silent, until Mako admitted, "That would explain why she was so tense..."

A crunching made everyone looked over at Yugi only to recoil in shock to see he had actually dug holes into the marble rail with his fingers. Tristan looked to Yugi's face and instantly recoiled, clamping a hand over his mouth to suppress his sound of shocked-alarm.

Yugi's face was contorted into the ugliest, most furious and vicious snarl Tristan had ever seen. The brunette didn't even know the petite male was capable of frowning, much less snarling. But what sent a shiver down Tristan's spine was his eyes. His little friends innocent eyes were no longer purple nor were they red like Yami's, no, they were a brilliant golden yellow, the pupils slit narrowly, like a cat's or lizard's and they were filled with a murderous rage.

"I'm going...to... _ **kill**_ him...!" Yugi growled out, making even Yami a bit nervous as the darkness seemed to grow in his normally positive lighter half, yet it didn't feel like corruptive Shadow Magic, it felt more...natural, like whatever this presence was, it was all Yugi.

"HE MADE A BET WITH ME THAT IF I WON HE'D COME CLEAN AND EVEN REVEAL THE NAMES OF HIS PREVIOUS VICTIMS!" Joey continued making Stephanie gasp, "YOU WEREN'T THE FIRST ONE HE DID THIS TO, STEPH, HE WAS GOIN' TAH BULLY YA INTAH SILENCE JUST LIKE THE REST OF 'EM!"

Stephanie stared in shock before her own anger started to boil as she turned a stern, teary expression towards Keith, her fear starting to disappear.

 _(Beach City, Sun Incinerator)_

"He almost...WHAAAT!" Everyone screamed out in shocked-rage.

"THIS is why I wanted to go!" Jenny yelled angrily as tiny embers started to lick her fingertips, a quick poke from a surprisingly calm Jamie got her to notice and quickly put them out before anyone else could notice. "WHY I OUTTA!" Kevin, to everyone's surprise, looked like he was about to march out and get to Duelist Kingdom, but Buck was quick to grab him, "LET ME AT HIM, LET ME AT HIM! BUCK, GOD DAMIT IT, DON'T HOLD ME BACK! YOU HEARD WHAT WHEELER JUST SAID!"

"How are you two so calm?" Mr. Pizza asked in disbelief, his own anger for the girl who had become his honorary niece very obvious on his face and in his tone. "Because before Steph left I did a little research; guess who married the youngest Butterfly sibling before she past away from pulmonary hypertension******," Jamie retorted.

For a moment everything was silent as the adults mostly processed this, but before long everyone made the connection and immediately freaked out.

Ronaldo was the one to shout, "PEGASUS IS STEPHANIE'S UNCLE?!"

Connie was reeling, but confused, _'Why would her own uncle, blood-related or not, but her through this?'_

But Sadie was quick to notice something, "Hey, where did Lars go?" Everyone looked over in surprise to see that Lars was in fact gone and sitting in his seat was none other than Padparascha, who was looking rather confused, like she had no idea how she got in the captain's chair.

 _(Duelist Kingdom)_

"I'M WILLIN' TAH BET STEALIN' MAH CARD WASN'T THE ONLY THING YA DID!" Joey finsihed, still almost screaming.

"On the nose with that statement would be an understatement, Joey-boy," Pegasus spoke up, looking calm, but you could tell how angry he really was by how hard he was gripping his glass and arm-rest and the look in his single eye, "Not only did he steal your entry card, but hid his two extra Seven-Completed cards beneath his wristbands."

"So you noticed too, Maxi," Marco mused eyes glaring down the older blonde duelist, "I suppose with this...cheap strategy allowed Bandit Keith to power up his Slot Machine whenever he deemed fit."

"Just when I thought ya couldn't sink lower..." Joey growled throat starting to hurt from all the yelling, "How's the dirt taste?"

Bandit Keith was tongue-tied for a moment, just when he was about to open his mouth, Stephanie suddenly spoke out, "He threatened Mokuba and Leon."

For a brief moment, it was silent, before Seto screamed so loudly, the bottle in Sheppard's hands actually broke, "WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!" Mokuba trembled from shock as he held onto Lion, who purred, trying to calm the boy down. "Why I outta-!" Maisie whirled angrily, camera lights flashing.

"I happened to know some ladies who have quite the number of things to say to you Bandit Keith," Pegasus smirked wickedly, which made Bandit Keith both confused and nervous, thinking he meant the Gems up in the balcony.

The door opened and Keith turned to see it was Ruby, who looked very pissed off and next to her was, from what he had heard in the shower, had to be Amethyst. Her long lavender hair was pulled up into a ponytail, her mauve skin made her stand out the most compared to the other Gems, her muscle shirt and tight pants made her the most causal one out of all of them.

Amethyst summoned her whip and cracked it, making everyone who wasn't used to it jump in fright, before she swung, wrapping it around a startled Keith's legs. Ruby then grabbed Keith by the arms when Amethyst used her whip to pull him closer and with surprising strength the two started carrying him away flailing and screaming as everyone watched.

Clapping made Joey turn to Pegasus, who stood, "Congratulations on your win; you should be very proud of yourself for bringing Bandit Keith's reign of terror to a very efficient end." Joey opened his mouth to reply but startled cries from Ruby and Amethyst made him turn quickly to see Bandit Keith had somehow gotten free and was running back towards the arena.

Startled, Joey shouted, "Keith, wh-!"

But Bandit Keith ignored him, using the arena for momentum as he jumped towards Pegasus with an enraged yell, "Pegasus!"

Everyone gasped in alarm, Marco reacting first when he saw the thug reaching for his son-in-laws, instincts on high, "Max!" He quickly grabbed the startled man's wrist and swung him away, unfortunately turning his back to Keith as the man landed. Marco grunted as his arm was grabbed instead and twisted behind his back before the familiar biting cold steel of a knife was pressed to his neck.

"Marco!" Star cried with wide eyes as everyone else gasped in alarm. "Grandpa!" Stephanie cried horrified.

Hearing how he threatened two little kids and now seeing the King being threatened, the woman's patience snapped. Glossaryck looked up as the woman stood, teeth angrily bared as a dark green light began to shine on her cheeks, magic beginning to form around her hands, only for a hand to suddenly shoot out from the darkness and yank her in, making her yelp in surprise as she disappeared into the shadows.

Glossaryck, as always, was unfazed by what actually happened and just blinked, "Huh, that's new."

"This is a very poor mistake Keith," Pegasus warned angrily as he recovered from being manhandled. "Really, I happened to think this is a smart idea and quite simple," Bandit Keith retorted, "Its either hand over the prize money or the old man gets it."

Stephanie covered her mouth, tears welling a-new as Pearl hesitated, not sure what to do as she still had the collar on.

A chuckle suddenly escaped Marco as a smirk fell across his face, much to Bandit Keith's irritation, "What's so funny?"

"You say this like you assume I'm just an ordinary old man," Marco commented much to Bandit Keith's surprise before Marco sudden used his free arm to grab the hand with the knife and squeezed with all his strength, making Bandit Keith cry in pain and drop the knife and everyone cringed at the tall-tale sound of bone breaking. Marco then headbutted his captor, effectively breaking the man's nose, making him loosen his grip on Marco's arm and step back, allowing the king to turn.

"This is for touching my granddaughter!" Marco hissed before using his now free hand to punch Keith in the face, then used both hands to throw the man like he was a feather or a doll across the room.

Marco then turned when he felt a sudden spike in magic and saw it was coming from his granddaughter, who was clenching her hands tight, her gemstone now visible as her clothes fluttered in a nonexistent wind, strangely, it was glowing orange.

"Stay...away..." Stephanie said tense, "From my...FAMILY!" She screamed the last part as her skin glowed pink, creating a sonic scream of sorts that cracked the stone around her and sent Star, Pegasus and Sheppard flying as the glow intensified, startling everyone.

As the pink glow to her skin receded, Stephanie looked down at her gemstone in bewilderment, "Wh-what's going on...?" She cried out at the warm feeling that spread through out her body before an object was ejected from her gemstone.

Marco and Star gasped at the familiar black and nebula-themed parasol that appeared from the gemstone, Pegasus was dumbfounded and was also slapping himself, _'So **that's** where he hid it.'_

Stephanie stared in shock, having never seen the parasol before before blacking out, making everyone shout in alarm, "Stephanie!"

Star slowly stepped as the parasol floated to the ground before picking it up.

Everyone watched in shocked-awe as the parasol became surrounded in a flurry golden stars and wisps of blue energy, shortening and changing its appearance.

The handle was purple and darker purple diagonal stripes with yellow tip at the end with a heart-shaped, pink crystal. The bell was yellow with a pinkish-red heart on top of it. Its main part was purple and circular with a circular, light blue face-plate that had a pentagon pattern. In the center of the face-plate was a golden star crystal surrounded by small pink hearts and on either side of the wand was a pair of large, soft, white wings that resembled butterfly wings with Persian blue hearts near the top and at the top of the wand was a pair of red devil horns.

Star shivered with a tiny smile at the familiar feeling of wielding the wand again before glaring at Bandit Keith, who looked up as she stepped up to tower over him, wand glowing with power as she levels the wand at him and says in an emotionless voice, _**"Dreamless Sleep."**_ The wand's crystal emitted a pale purple glow that struck Keith in the head and he instant fell into a deep sleep.

"Is she okay?" Yugi asked as he ran into the balcony, having rushed down the stairs from the other one to get over here to check on Stephanie as Marco lifted her into his arms. "She'll be fine, just a bit drained from using magic for the first time," Marco reassured the boy, who's features were back to normal.

"What did you do to him?" Joey asked Star from his stunned placed at the arena. "It's called a simple little spelling spell, he won't be waking up for a while," Star answered as she stared down at the slumbering man, "Maximillion," Pegasus looked from Stephanie to the Queen, "I was going to let the Japanese authorities handle this, but now, I've changed my mind; he's going into Butterfly custody after this tournament." She turned and gave him a steely look, daring him to disagree or argue with her.

"Of course, _Madre_ ," Pegasus complied smirking, knowing Bandit Keith's days as a free man were as good as over, "Whatever you wish."

Amethyst and Ruby showed up and grabbed Keith again, carrying him off by his arms and legs, Pearl went to help, but remembered the collar, she then turned looking like she wanted to run to Stephanie's side, but looked to Pegasus. Who arched a brow at her, as if daring her to do so. Pearl ground her teeth together in frustration.

Croquet cleared his throat, "The next round of the Semi-Finals will begin tomorrow once Princess Butterfly has recovered; Joey Wheeler will advanced to the next round of Block A."

Pearl summoned her hologram again and faded out Keith's picture and high-lighted Joey's like she did before with Yugi and Mai, she then made a duplicate picture of Joey and moved to the next block, showing his next opponent to Yugi once the next two duels were over.

 _'Yugi...'_ Joey thought with wide eyes turning to look at his best friend, who stood by the King's side, looking back at him. _'Joey...'_ Yugi thought torn, _'To save my grandfather...I...I have to duel...my best friend...'_

 _(Unknown Location)_

The woman stumbled for a moment as she pulled through the shadows into a new location, but easily got her footing once she realized what had happened, she quickly readjusted her hood as the light and magic receded. She turned to who had grabbed her, mouth set into an irritated scowl as she demanded in a heavily accented voice, "What that for?" Her English was choppy, but her grammer was fine.

The person who had grabbed her was dressed similarly in black, but wore a robe over their clothes that was trimmed with dark grey with the hood up, also heavily shadowing their face, save their jaw. But what skin was visible was strangely a dark charcoal grey, almost black as night or ink in hue, but in the dim candle-lit room, it was easier to tell what color it actually was. Around their waist was a thick dark grey belt that kept the robe closed and the robe itself almost resembled a Grim Reaper's appearance, the collar was trimmed with a pale, greyish white, matching the trim of the hem and sleeves.

"You were about to give away your cover, that's what!" The figure replied in a surprisingly young male voice, the woman was older and taller, but she didn't tower over him like Bismuth or Jasper did over most, they were actually close in height, his tone was slightly scolding and held plenty of anger, but was also understanding in her actions, "Its too soon for anyone to know your still on Earth!"

"What you expect me to do?" The woman demanded hands on her hips, "That _bastarda_ *******-!"

"You think I'm not pissed off?" The male retorted in a dark hiss that made the woman recoil as if slapped, especially as the shadows around them started to move unnaturally, "Trust me, if I had my way, I'd be turning that rotten corpse of a human into dust and a puddle of flesh and blood beneath my feet right now; he'd now the true meaning of the phrase 'having the life scared out of you'!" He then took a deep breath, "But I can't, because its too early to give even potential clue to my existence yet!"

"You are too paranoid," The woman scoffed. "That's rich coming from you," The boy snorted leaning back on the desk in the room, arms crossed.

The entire room was an office, the entirety was decorated in a Gothic design, like something out of Jessica Helgerson Interior Design. All dark wood furniture, the bookshelves were filled with thick looking books of a wide variety of subjects; psychology, astronomy, biology, even mythology. An antique lamp at on the desktop, but it wasn't the modern day type of lamp, but an oil-burner one with an attractive shape to the glass that trapped the fire inside. The dark green walls were mounted either with silver-framed landscapes or candles. The desk chair was the most modern thing apart from the books, being made of plush, thick dark brown leather. The floor was hard wood of an even darker color then the furniture and the carpets at the desk and visitor chairs were a medium grey with spots of white made of soft, fuzzy material that felt great on the feet.

Sitting on the desk in front of the the stacks of paper and colored folders was a name plaque made of thick chestnut-wood and silver, which read:

 _ **'Blake Diamanto********, Principal'**_

"Did it ever occur to you what would happen if we were ever discovered?" The young man asked crossing one ankle over the other, she turned her head to show she was listening, "The moment the Crystal Gems get whiff of me, they're going to throw caution to the wind and try to get **_her_** here, because that's how badly any one Gem fears me when they so much as suspect I'm still in one piece! And the Butterflies!" He gave a dry, humorless laugh, "They're going to have questions; and who do you think they'll turn to when someone who's suppose be in some far away dimension having in exile is actually here on Earth?"

" _ **Them**_ ," She hissed angrily, a ball of acid green magic formed around her hand before gave a furious shriek before throwing the ball at a bust in the shape of a certain scissor-smith-she-demon, blast it to bits and breathed heavily in her anger. The young man didn't appear very fazed by this, more annoyed as he sighed and pressed a button next to the plaque, calling, "Jorie*********, get the broom."

A young girl's voice replied, "Yes, sir."

"I see your starting to see my point," The young man remarked as the woman calmed down, "Forgive me my crassness, but get a grip on that temper or find a new partner."

The woman took a few breaths as the door opened and a young girl entered, carrying a broom, a rather calm and demure posture and expression about her. She was rather pretty, about fourteen-fifteen, with short rust-orange hair cut in a princess-style cut with blunt bangs to cover her forehead, her skin was a warm ivory color and her eyes were doed-shaped and an apricot-orange color.

She wore what appeared to be a traditional Japanese school uniform. The sailor shirt was a bold pitch black like the thread had been dyed in ink, trimmed at the collar and cuffs of the short loose, quarter-sleeves with cloud-grey. The skirt was the same black, but reached her knees in with a pair of ash-grey knee-socks and a pair of black ballet flats. Tied around her neck was a white necktie and pinned to the center of the knot was a shiny black diamond emblem. Atop her head she wore a shiny black beret with several layers of shiny black sheer material that fell partially over her face, almost like a veil.

The girl, Jorie, paused on her trek to the broken pieces of stone to bow respectfully to the young man, setting the broom aside to lift her skirt in a curtsy, "Sir," She then turned to the woman, who glanced over coldly and curtsied again, unfazed, "My Lady." She then started sweeping the broken marble.

The woman tsked, before taking out a pair of scissors, "Pull me here like that again, Black," Jorie paused with a flinch at the callous use of the name, "And _**she**_ won't have to worry about you being in 'one-piece'." With that said, she used the scissors to slash the air, creating a fiery red portal and stepped through it before it closed.

The man shook his head before walking around the desk to look out the office window. Outside below in the courtyard, hundreds of young adults and teens milled about. All of them were dressed similarly to Jorie, all of them sporting a black diamond emblem. He smirked as the pupils in coal-grey iris eyes turned white and diamond shaped, and the sclera changed from normal white to pitch black.

* * *

 **BAH! How's that for a cliffhanger!**

 **Now this has been lengthy, but so worth it, or so I think!**

 **I wanted to get some backstory with not just Pegasus but the Butterflies as well. Might not have been necessary, but I like to think its a certain layer of depth to the character if that makes any sense. And a look into Star and Marco's lives after the Cleaving of Mewni and Echo Ridge is defiantly an interesting concept, especially with how stubborn Mewmans tend to be to keep to their old ways.**

 **Looks like Red Eyes used to belong to a Butterfly, how's that for a twist?**

 **Let me know what you guys think, I'm really looking forward to the next chapter; they're maybe a song or two.**

 **Anyways, I'm going to go on with the *notes, before I forget:**

 **Hermanito*: Is Spanish for 'Little Brother', make of it what you will.**

 **Papi**: Is Spanish for 'Daddy', just seems like something Star would say when addressing her child and adopting the Spanish Language.**

 **Mami***: Is Spanish for 'Mommy', I can see Marco's daughter using the Spanish Language, what can I say?**

 **Asteria****: Is a play on 'Aster', a flower with an interesting back story revolving around a Greek sky goddess and it actually translate to 'star', so it just sounds like a name the Butterfly family would use. Also, since I have no idea about the Queens before Lyric, Skywenne's mother, nor do I know just where Soupina fits in, I'm going to fit Asteria in, obviously before her, so think of Asteria as Lyric's grandmother or something like that, just not that her reign was more than four-hundred years ago, but still within a** **millennia.**

 **Grim Reaper*****: To be honest, Asteria is actually a genderbent character from another anime who actually is a Grim Reaper, I even made the wand the same as their scythe. Tell me if you can guess who it is and which anime their from. Also, I picked them cause I wanted Eclipsa to not be the only 'Dark' Queen in the Butterfly family, given how long the family history and tree is, I find it weird she's the only one.**

 **Pulmonary hypertension******: Is a deadly disease that involves increased blood pressure in the arteries of the lungs; symptoms include shortness of breath, syncope, tiredness, chest pain, swelling of the legs and a fast heart-beat. Risks to consider are a family history, prior blood clots in the lungs, sickle cell disease, COPD, living in high altitudes, sleep apnea and problems with the mitral valve. There are other risks, but given Cecilia's character history in this AU, I'm not including them, look up the disease if you want to know them. The anime never divulged even the smallest clue what Cecilia died of, just that it was 'devastating', well ain't they all? So I picked one that had a lot of open factors, like the family history, seeing as we don't much about Marco's family outside his parents and sister, or what kind of sicknesses Mewmans could get prior to being Cleaved or any medical history to the Butterflies themselves. So, I think it works out for itself here.**

 **Bastarda********: Is Spanish for 'Bastard', for the record I'm pretty sure several people have call him worse, in and out of a review, just stating a fact.**

 **Blake Diamanto*********: Is a Steven Universe pun, if you really want to know, look both names up if you can't guess.**

 **Jorie**********: Is a Greek name and is also a Steven Universe pun, again, look it up if you can't guess.**

 **Now, with that out of the way, let's get on with the unofficial, as in not at the top of my author page, review-vote only, polls:**

 _ **Should Yugi remain the King of Games or should Stephanie become the Queen of Games?**_

 _ **King: 8, Queen: 2**_

 _ **Should Stephanie get an Egyptian God Card?**_

 _ **Yes: 5, No: 6**_

 _ **If yes, however temporarily, which one should it be?**_

 _ **Obelisk: 2, Slifer: 1, Ra: 1**_

 **Hmm, still no votes, well, again, still some time, so get your votes in now if you want a Queen of Games. Also, I'm stating it right now, I am open to Crystal Myth (i.e: Crystal Beast fusions: Garnet Mother Time) suggestions, but I have one rule: the mythological beast or figure has to originate from a place where the gemstone's real-life counterpart is mined, like Brazil for example or in the cause of Opal, Australia, hence Kunapipi.**

 **Now, as for my official, as in actually at the top of my author's page for anyone to click and vote, poll of Foreign God cards: Greek is still in the lead with 7 votes, Norse and Roman are tied with 6 votes, Mayan note far behind them with 4 and Mesopotamia is still at 2. Poor Mesopotamia doesn't seem to be getting any love ., well, till next time everyone.**

 **Plz review!**

 **AND KEEP IT PG IF YA DON'T MIND PLEASE!**

 **...unless your Twilight or foxchick1, I honestly think so long as you keep it light hearted, you'll both curse no matter what.**


	30. Chapter 30

**Now I know I sound like a broken record, but I digress: I do not own Steven Universe or any of its original characters nor do I own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of its original characters, I can say, however, that I do own Stephanie, her yami, Primrose, and all OCs I chose to make, including original Crystal Beasts, i.e. Bismuth Beaver, Crystal Myths, i.e: Garnet Mother Time, and other original cards. If I _did_ own Steven Universe, trust me, things would've been a lot different and if I own Yu-Gi-Oh there would've been a way for Atem to stay and have all his memories.**

 **foxchick1: I'll say this much, Sapphire did use her Future Vision without getting shocked and poofed, so, yeah, she's probably waiting for them, and feel free.**

 **Lady Twilight Prime: Seriously are you by any chance a horror and/or paranormal and/or horror/fantasy fan? Cause that view seriously almost sounded like something out of a dark thriller, no joke. Not a bad thing mind you, but I just felt the need to ask. Let me know what you think of these new details from the last chapter.**

 **J: The new chapter is up as of...I think a few weeks now.**

 **Now, on with the chapter!**

* * *

"Okay," Joey stated matter-of-factly, "This whole Princess thin' is getting a little out of hand."

The entire group of remaining finalists and plus were all carefully crowded within Stephanie's room, which was what Joey was commenting on, trying to lighten the tension. In a way, he wasn't entirely wrong, even the Gems found the sheer amount of one color a little off-putting, considering humans weren't generally known to keep things to one-colored. The sheets, the carpet, the walls, the drapes, even the pillows of the bed and the cushioning of the seats were all varying shades of pink while the furniture was all painted white to try and keep the room from becoming too unsettling or an eye-sore.

It was all exactly like something you would see in a bedroom for a princess in cartoons when the princess in question was the traditional, girly, non-confrontational and pink-loving type.

"Is that really all you can say right now?" Tea asked skeptically. "Excuse me for runnin' my mouth when I'm nervous," Joey retorted huffily. "You're always running your mouth, Mutt," Seto rolled his eyes. "What you call me?" Joey demanded looking like he was about to start a brawl with the brunette.

"Not now Joey!" Lapis hissed grabbing the blonde's arm and forcing him to sit down with her on a loveseat. "And shush, the both of you!" Peridot added more to Seto then to Joey, "The Queen needs silence to work here!"

Everyone watched as Star was running what she explained was a very simple diagnostic spell on a still unconscious Stephanie, who laid in the bed, looking strangely peaceful given what had happened earlier. Marco stood across from his wife at his granddaughter's bedside with Yugi next to him, the petite male being the only one who refused to stray far from the hybrid's side and for the Royal couple it was honestly endearing, it reminded Marco of his early time as a knight under Star, just tamer all things considered.

"Didn't you say it was just exhaustion from using magic for the first time?" Tristan asked remaining respectful despite his growing curiosity, ever since he heard of the Butterfly family and their vast powers, he had grown very curious about them and how it made them different from others.

"That is the case, yes," Marco nodded eyes glued on his wife's hands and the medicinal magic that flowed around Stephanie, seeping and retreating, pushing and pulling, like waves on the shoreline.

"Then why a diagnostic-scan when you already know what's wrong?" Maisie asked curiously, the red beeping light in her camera's lens hinting to her recording the event. "I don't know what a die-a-nog-stick scan is, but it's starting to sound pointless," Jasper said in her usual blunt manner that made the other Gems sigh, while Tea, Dorothy and Mako all chuckled at the miss-pronunciation.

"That's because there's a lot of things to consider when Magical Exhaustion takes place," Star spoke up, "It isn't the same as physical as this is an entirely different energy all together, it can have very negative side effects to her body, especially when you add in the fact her magic has been untapped and more or less suppressed her entire life."

"What kind of side-effects are we talking about?" Rex asked sounding concerned. "It varies both on the person in question and how much magic they used," Marco took over, "For someone like my wife, whose been used to magic her entire life, its almost like being winded after running for so long; it simply leaves her tired and she just needs to rest; worst case she's bed-ridden a few days tops, but like Star said, Stephanie has been unconsciously suppressing her magic her entire life, even if she didn't use a spell herself, just being physically apart of one took a lot out of her."

"Apart?" Peridot noticed, "You mean, she didn't cause it?"

"No, she didn't," Star said, "Some spells can be remotely casted, meaning the caster can be in one place and the intended target can be miles even countries away and from what I can tell, the spell has certain conditions attached to it, meaning certain things had to happen before the wand was pulled out of her gemstone."

"Speaking of which, can someone please explain to me why my _neita_ has a rose quartz embedded into her stomach?" Marco demanded hands on his hips, now everyone, even Seto looked a bit nervous, wondering how to explain, "I've heard and actually seen some strange piercings nowadays, but this is ridiculous, and I'm married to a woman who can shoot rainbows and whales out of her hands!"

Star rolled her eyes at the last part, while the teens all looked a bit lost.

"To put it as simple as possible, You're Majesty," Seto decided to speak up, "You're granddaughter isn't entirely human."

"Obviously, she's part Mewman," Star scoffed at this. "For the two thousandth, nine hundred and forty-fifth time, and yes, I counted Star," Marco sighed pinching the bridge of his nose, "Mewmans _ARE **humans**_."

"What Seto means, Queen Butterfly," Peridot intercepted as politely and respectfully as she was able, "Is that Stephanie is like us," She motioned from herself to the antsy Bismuth, Jasper and Lapis, who hovered as close to the bed as they allowed themselves, "She's part Gem."

"I was wondering about you four," Marco remarked idly, "But please, elaborate."

"To put it simply, she's half organic, half light," Peridot tried to explain Stephanie's existence, "Her body is majorly human, but she's dependent on her gemstone for her life like a normal Gem."

"And just how did she get this gemstone?" Marco pressed. "From what we understood, her mother, Rose Quartz, gave up both her gemstone and her physical form to her because they both can't exist at the same time," Lapis spoke up much to the royal couple's shock, "Because they're both tied to the gemstone as a life source."

"Poor girl..." Star whispered as she realized the girl had spent her entire life, all fourteen years without knowing her mother. Marco breathed heavily through his nose, bowing his head, realizing his son had gone through the horrible loss of losing his Half, something even Glosssaryck would wish on anyone.

"Anyone curious how that this got intah Stephanie's gemstone tah being with?" Joey asked changing the topic. "I'd actually would like to know that to," Jasper said frowning at Star's wand, which the Queen had placed on a night stand, "What is it anyways."

"That," Marco smiled bittersweetly, "Would be the Butterfly family's original Royal Magic Wand, a millennia old heirloom that's been past down Queen to Princess for generations."

"You mean that's what gives the Butterflies their power?" Rex asked skeptically. "Originally, until Wandless Magic was discovered around eight hundred years ago," Star replied before canceling her spell, "She's perfectly fine, nothing a quick nap won't fix." Everyone sighed in relief at that.

"If I may ask a question, You're Highnesses," Mako said as the royal couple sat by their granddaughter's side. "Of course," Marco assured.

"How did the wand change it's appearance like that?" Mako asked curiously. "Yeah, one second it was a really pretty parasol and the next it was that," Leon added motioning to the wand's currant appearance as Star picked it up.

"I'm afraid that's a mystery no one's ever been able to solve," Star admitted with a thoughtful hum, before shrugging after a moment, "Except maybe my second great-grandmother Celena, but she took it to her grave, unfortunately."

"A quirk the wand appears to have is that it always changes its appearance when it trades hands," Marco explained further holding a hand out to his wife, who shrugged before handing the wand over and with a swirl of bluish-green energy, it changed appearances once more.

In the King's hand, the wand maintained it's general style, but was now a pale green with small black bat-like wings with a spiky face-plate with a spear-like tip at the top end and a random black dot that resembled the King's mole. In the center of the face-plate was a purple crystal in a diamond-like shape.

Mokuba and Leon awed at how cool the King's wand looked, even Joey and Tristan found it amazing.

"That doesn't explain how it got in Stephanie's gemstone though," Yugi pointed out as he leaned against one of the bed-posts, still looking concerned, "I mean, Steph clearly wasn't expecting that to happen."

Star and Marco hummed thoughtfully in response.

"Truth be told, the last person who had the wand was our son Gregorio," Marco said making everyone who was aware of Stephanie's reason for being here in the first place cringe, "After our younger daughter's...passing...he was given the wand as the only available heir, then he disappeared, taking it and the spellbook with him."

"Spell-book?" Tea asked, "There's a spell-book that goes with it?"

"Yes, two actually," Star nodded, "The first one was recently repaired after being lost in a fire over three centuries ago, the second one has been started and passed down since then, each Princess and Queen creates their own Chapter to add to it, recording significant events during their reign and time with the wand, as well as their original creations."

The humans, who already had a basic understanding of magic before hand, nodded in understanding, while the Gems all shared a look before shrugging.

A groan suddenly made everyone turn expectantly towards Stephanie, who rubbed at her eyes as she slowly sat up, Yugi quickly rushed over, almost knocking Marco over, much to the king's amusement rather than irritation, "Stephanie...?"

"Why do I feel like I just ran twenty marathons all at once?" Stephanie questioned aloud before her vision cleared to find Yugi and grandparents sitting around her, "Yugi? Grandma? Grandpa?" Then, as if a switch was flipped, her memory came back, "Grandpa!" She almost tackled the slightly startled man off the bed, almost smacking Yugi had both men not seen it coming, "Are you okay? What happened? How long was I out? What happened to-?"

Marco cut her off by placing a two fingers to her lips, amusement clear on his face, _'Yep, this is defiantly Shadow's daughter.'_

"I wish ya coulda seen it, Steph!" Joey grinned as everyone smiled to see her alright, "Yer Gramps didn't just break that slime-ball's nose, but he swung 'im like he was lighter then a feather! And your Grandma knocked him clean out with this wicked lookin' spell!" Both elders blushed at the praise, feeling extreme satisfaction at the reminder of how well Marco gave the arrogant blonde a lesson in underestimation and Star put him out of commission for Amethyst and Ruby to get him into custody.

"Really?" Stephanie asked in surprise, looking between her grandparents in awe, making them both preen. "Well, when you're a martial arts prodigy, you don't just lose those skills just because peace rolled in," Marco chuckled scratching a cheek. "You should see the more complex spells," Star brushed off humbly, or as humble as Star was able to when it came to her skill in magic.

"Wait, now I remember, something came out of my gemstone that don't ever remember putting in it," Stephanie remembered looking around curiously, "A...parasol...?"

"Actually, Steph, how much do you know about the Butterfly family?" Rex asked. "Besides them being the introduction of Monster society and being one of ruling factions in the new era over in America, not much," Stephanie admitted.

"Do you remember how we talked about a family relic that was passed down to your father?" Star asked. "Vaguely," Stephanie admitted sheepishly making many roll their eyes, "I was kinda still absorbing that I was related to actual Queens and Kings."

A knocking sounded at the door and everyone looked over as Sapphire opened the door, "Ah, I see Miss Quartz-Universe is finally awake."

"S-Sapphire..." Stephanie whispered shrinking in on herself a little, really wanting to rush to the blue Gem and hug her, but doubted that as long as that collar was on, that wasn't going to happen. Yugi returned to her side at this and placed a hang comfortingly on hers, making her glance up with a shy smile.

"I take it the duels are still postponed for tomorrow," Seto remarked. "Correct," Sapphire answered with a slight nod to the tall brunette, making many wonder how she could see with those bangs, "Mr. Pegasus has deemed it appropriate to celebrate the first successful round of the tournament, and Bandit Keith's," No one missed her bodily twitch or how the room's temp dropped several degrees or how frost formed around her feet at the former male Finalist's name, "Reign of terror finally being over, by throwing another big dinner, this time there will be live entertainment and all is encouraged to dance and have fun."

Her message delievered, Sapphire curtsied before turning to leave, but not before throwing over her shoulder, "Oh and I suggest dressing up again for the occasion." She then disappeared down the hall.

"Guess that means we have tah wear those damn monkey suits aga-EN!" Joey started only to yell as he was nailed in the head with a bright pink hair brush that Stephanie had pulled out of her gemstone. "Kids still in the room!" Stephanie reminded as Mokuba and Leon giggled at the blonde male.

"Guess we better go get ready," Tristan groaned not looking forward to wearing his suit again, but was looking forward to seeing Bismuth all dressed up again. "Same here, oh!" Tea began to leave as well, "Steph, do you want me or Dorothy to help you with your makeup and hair?"

"Actually, Tea, I was going to ask Grandma if she wanted to help me," Stephanie admitted shyly, before turning to her grandmother hastily, "If that's alright!"

"I'd love to," Star smiled touched and bursting with giddiness that her granddaughter wanted her to be included.

"Let's go Mokuba," Seto said leaving, Maisie on his shoulder. "I'm coming!" Mokuba said quickly getting off of Lion and helping Leon down as well, "Come on Leon, I'll help you out too!"

Leon allowed the older boy to pull him along, "Okay," He then waved, "Bye Princess Pink!" Stephanie winced a little at the name, but waved back anyways.

"We better go too," Bakura said. "I'm going to go look at the dresses in the dressing room, see if there any other styles I want to try," Lapis said. "Me too," Peridot agreed. "I'll go with you," Bismuth said but Jasper stayed where she was, not intending to let Stephanie out of her sight again after learning the extent of damage Bandit Keith had inflicted right under her gemstone.

"We better go to," Dorothy said and Mako and Rex nodded in agreement, "I hope you feel better soon and join us Steph!" Stephanie smiled in response.

"See you at dinner," Mako nodded in agreement, but quickly bowed, "You're Majesties." Star and Marco chuckled in response, but nodded their heads.

They were especially amused as the last two remaining Finalists approached their granddaughter as she got to her feet, their cheeks turning a familiar pink.

"Hope to see you at the dinner Steph!" Yugi said sincerely, making her smile. "But don't force yourself if your not feeling up for it!" Rex reprimanded hotly, tone coming off a little more harshly then he intended.

Stephanie smiled more amusedly, eyes rolling slightly, "I'll keep that in-" She cut herself off with wide, surprised eyes as both boys suddenly leaned in and kissed her cheeks, much to her shock as she spluttered.

Both boys realized what the other did and frowned at each other, despite their rapidly reddening cheeks, before paling as they remembered her grandparents and Jasper were still in the room. The Gem, to her credit, looked more confused by the gestures themselves then anything else, if a bit amused by the two males' reactions. Marco and Star, however, looked ready to fall to the floor, probably would've too if not for the self-restraint from Moon's 'Royal Decorum' lessons.

Yugi and Rex just bowed deeply before scurrying out of the room, the tri-haired youth trying in vain to ignore the howls of Yami's laughter.

"Wow, only fourteen, haven't had any formal training yet and already got two boys chasing after you," Star mused with a rather proud smile, "Now that right there is a Butterfly Courtship record, and they're not even royalty as far as we know."

"Star!" Marco groused despite his amused expression, he just found his grandbaby after all, he really didn't want to be seriously entertaining the idea of suitors (royal, noble-blood or otherwise) at the moment. "What?" Star asked innocently, "I'm just saying."

"Wait, formal training?" Jasper asked curiously, "What training?" She wanted to ask about the chasing part, but remembered there was a time and place for things.

"Well, when a Butterfly, male or female, reaches a certain age, usually around four or five depending, starts Royal Lessons," Star explained as Stephanie started slapping her cheeks, trying to get rid of her blush, "Little stuff at first like basic etiquette, dancing, maybe an instrument, of course reading and writing, and minor history lessons, mostly about the Butterfly family itself and its most intimate allies, maybe even a couple of lore lessons depending on how well the child progresses in the norm; and of course basic magic."

"Basic magic?" Stephanie asked confused once she finally recovered from her shock. "There is such a thing as Wandless Magic, after all," Marco took over, "All Butterfly heirs who show any sign of being able to use magic in general are required to under go certain levels of training, if anything to control that power so they don't end up hurting themselves or those around them, even I had to go through it when I proved able to use magic as well."

Stephanie, despite not liking the idea she could potentially hurt someone yet again for, again, a power she had no control over and one she just discovered she even had only yesterday at that. But she did like the idea of training, she always enjoyed training, even if it did get exhausting, it always felt nice to do things as a group with the Gems or even mock duels with Lars, Buck, Jenny and Sour Cream; it was always fun for her. So to hear this was a type of training exclusive to her father's family made her giddy for when this nightmare of a tournament was over, it gave her an excuse to bond even more with her father and his family, maybe even repair her father's bond with his parents while she was at it.

She shook herself out of it when Primrose told her, _**"Focus."**_

She looked over to see her grandmother had crossed the room to examine the ballgown she had worn yesterday, which was on a mannequin, "You really were beautiful in this, purple is a unique color."

"Thanks," Stephanie smiled bashfully with a blush. "I'm going to go get ready and set something out for you," Marco said to Star as he kissed her cheek, right on one of her hearts, "Don't go overboard."

"Since when do I ever?" Star teased making him give her a blank look, brow arching, she just slapped his arm playfully, making Stephanie giggle with a smile at their interaction. "See you at dinner Grandpa!" Stephanie was quick to hug him and felt him tense for a moment before slowly returning the gesture. "See you soon, _Nieta,"_ Marco returned before kissing the top of her head fondly and then left.

"You know this is actually a nice opportunity for a little impromptu magic lesson," Star suddenly mused getting the younger Butterfly's and older Quartz's attention, "After all, why physically do your hair and make-up, when there's a spell for it to make things easier and faster?" Stephanie blinked in surprise at that, wondering just how many spells there were and to just what extent of diversity there was to it all, Jasper was idly wondering along the lines the same thing.

"Aren't you going to go look for new styles too Jasper?" Stephanie asked. "Nah, I'm good with this," Jasper replied phasing her outfit from dinner the night before.

 _(Time Skip)_

Many of the guys didn't really bother to do anything different with their clothes this time, though, they did either keep the jackets unbuttoned or half buttoned-up. Joey and Tristan went the extra mile for a more causal feeling by having their shirts partially tucked in on one side, being the ones with their jackets completely unbuttoned. Tea had changed her dress for a more modern one that came a few inches past her knees in a loose, layered, asymmetrical skirt with a sheer-neckline that resembled a turtleneck made of lace, that was all a peachy-orangey-pink color complete with matching heeled sandals with orange jewels in her jewelry. Dorothy had kept the same dress as before.

Lapis had kept her previous attire, not that Joey was complaining. Bismuth had changed her dress for a maroon-colored one of a similar design, keeping the same shoes, Tristan still thought she looked amazing.

Peridot had done the biggest transformation in her attire and it immediately drew Seto's attention and kept it. It could only be described as Vintage-Style, it reminded everyone of something early 90s actresses and singers would wear on a red-carpet. It's top was thin, spaghetti-strapped, tight fitting, leaving her arms bare for a pair of elbow-long evening gloves, and the skirt almost reached past her mid-shin, fluttering with movement, would most-likely flair and ride up if she spun. To completed the outfit was a simple pair of flats. The entire thing was a stunning shade of yellow that seemed to sparkle like gold with lighter accents.

Pegasus was dressed as usual, sitting casually in his throne-like chair. The entire room had been rearranged with buffet tables, each having a set of dishes from different parts of the world, so there would be plenty of room to dance. Pearl stood dutifully by Pegasus' side, not looking all to pleased and kept glancing between the doors and Ryou, who was also sneaking glances at the elegant white Gem, looking as if he was debating something. Several musicians stood aside, ready to play once given their cue.

"I know Gems don't need tah eat, but ya gotta try these!" Joey told Lapis as they stood by one of the tables, which had Mexican food, "Just the right about of spice 'n' sweetness!"

"For once, I can't say I completely disagree with you Wheeler," Seto remarked from further down the table with Peridot, who was eyeing the arrangement curiously, "If there's one type of food that does it right aside from Japanese, its Mexican."

"Someone stop the presses!" Tea joked from next to Bakura and Dorothy, both of whom were chuckling, at the African table, "Kaiba and Joey are actually agreeing on something!" Seto rolled his eyes, helping Mokuba and Leon when they couldn't reach the corn salad.

Tristan played along from next to Bismuth, pausing in showing her the different Asian foods, "The world is ending!"

"It is? Oh no!" Bismuth, taking it literal, turned towards the two duelists, "Joey! Quick! Argue!"

The blonde looked over, confused, "Huh?"

"Expression, Bismuth," Tristan gave a dry chuckle, "It's just an overdramatic expression." Bismuth gave an 'o' expression, facing flushing a darker bluish color in her embarrassment.

At the Greek food table, Yugi sighed in amusement.

Then the doors opened and Jasper was the first to enter in her fancy attire, more confident the yesterday and was immediately greeted by Mako.

Before anyone could question the quartz, the doors opened once more and the royal couple made their entrance. Somehow both looked more entrancing then before.

Marco had traded his red jacket for sky blue one, the sash having several medals shining attractively on it. His dress pants were pitch black matching his dress shoes. Hanging from his shoulder-pads was a dark blue cape made of fine silk, fluttering with each of the King's steps.

Star had traded her informal pink dress for a slightly more extravagant, traditional blue gown that looked like something out of Cinderella with its haphazard-styled, fluffy, almost flower-petal-like sleeves and her shoes gleamed like glass, but was dark like crystal. Her hair was down with two long braids, one hanging over each shoulder, while the rest of her hair was tied off at the bottom in a fishtail-like style. Her eye-shadow was a pale blue to match her pale pink lips and the pale blue face glitter to highlight her hearts.

Then, finally, Stephanie stepped in holding up her skirt for her first official curtsy as a Butterfly, and everyone gasped and stared in surprised-awe.

With a little magic, Star had shown Stephanie how to alternate dresses, allowing Stephanie to change the skirt of her gown so it was no longer the traditional round, tent-like shape with an inward curve, but rather it was looser now with a more outward curve. Little lavender-colored roses had been added to the hem of the wrap and along the off-shoulder, ruffled sleeves, adding a fancier-air of elegance. Her make up consisted of a smokey shade of purple eye-shadow with dark purple eye-liner and pale bluish-green body glitter to highlight her cheek marks and her lips were painted a dark pinkish-purple to keep to the color scheme of her outfit, while not looking too odd.

Before they made their entrance, Marco and Star combined their magic to create a beautiful tiara, telling a flustered and awed Stephanie to think of it as the first of the many birthday and Christmas gifts they intend to make up for. It was stunning, if a bit simple, made of a perfectly polished white gold and studded along the bottom edge with powder purple pearls and it was encrusted with jewels like her grandparents' crown, only hers were a rich, dark pink and were round in shape, matching the white gold bracelets she wore. She of course, kept her locket and the Millennium Earrings.

Yugi could only stare, a complete loss for words and Yami was no better.

"Mewman tradition, Grandpa gets the first dance," Marco smirked as he held out a hand to Stephanie playfully. "If you insist," Stephanie giggled playing along with a curtsy as she took the offered hand.

"Aw, then who am I suppose to dance with?" Star pouted playfully as Pegasus signaled the musicians to start. " _Madre_ ," Pegasus smiled as he walked up to the Queen, offering a hand. "Why not?" Star shrugged before allowing Pegasus to lead her out onto the dance floor.

As the music began, Marco teased, "I hope Gregorio taught you the classics."

"The waltz or the tango?" Stephanie retorted despite the pang in her chest at the mention of her father, "Cause yes to both."

With this said, both pairs began to practically glide around the room in a waltz, leaving the watching Gems and teens in a trance of awe as the four moved with the steady grace and elegance of a flower petals floating in a breeze. Almost looking like figures from an oil painting, beautiful, entrancing and almost untouchable.

Lapis, Jasper and Bimsuth couldn't help swaying a little to the melody playing, while Pearl remained perfectly still from years of practiced ease. All four Era One Gems were immediately reminded of the fancy parties and balls that used to be thrown before the war, when things were so much simpler. It reminded both Jasper and Pearl of their late Diamond, remembering her glee when she had planned a ball just before the war started to celebrate the beginning of what had started as another successful colony. For Lapis and Bismuth it reminded them of the robotic, almost machine like dancing the assembled Gems would always perform every time without fail at every ball.

Lapis blinked out of her thoughts by a tap to the shoulder and turned to see Joey holding out a hand to her, looking nervous as he scratched the back of his head, "Hey, Lapis...would ya...would ya like tah dance...?"

"I'm...I don't think I can dance something like..." Lapis said uncertainly, her self-consciousness growing as she turned to watch as Stephanie and Marco fanned out, looking Diamond-level elegant and perfect, clearly in their element, _'What if I make a complete clod out of myself?'_

"Me neither..." Joey admitted much to Lapis' surprise, but he gave a warm, slightly hopeful smile, "But...maybe we can...learn tahgether."

Lapis' cheeks turned a dark violet at the suggestion, the word 'together' seemed to repeat for hours in her head and it made her gemstone feel lighter then air and warmer then a star. She then smiled warmly and accepted the offered hand, "I'd like that..."

Joey smiled more and led her out onto the dancefloor, which Stephanie noticed with an excited smile. When the hybrid caught Lapis' eye she held up the hand that hand been on her grandfather's arm and gave the classic 'okay' sign with her thumb and pointer finger, which made Lapis blush a little harder but smile back with the same sign.

Lapis couldn't help shuddering as Joey wrapped an arm around her waist and held her close and joined one hand with hers. She suddenly felt light on her feet as she allowed herself to be lead into gentle twirls and spins across the floor, trying to be mindful of the other two pairs.

Peridot and Pearl were surprised, Pearl more so then Peridot, but the green Gem smiled widely, happy for her blue friend.

"Go Joey!" Tea chuckled smiling. "Didn't know he had it in him," Tristan chuckled. "Guess Wheeler isn't a clueless nincompoop after all," Rex remarked from next to Tristan. "Nincompoop?" Mako and Dorothy echoed in amusement as they walked over. "I'd call him something else, but I had enough shoes thrown at me to last a life-time," The Dino Duelist replied dryly the imprints from the shoes had faded a little but in the right lighting and if you were looking close enough you could still see them.

"Ah, I can't take it anymore!" Bismuth said excitedly, "Is Lazuli can do it, I can do!" She then grabbed a startled Tristan by the hand, leading him towards the dance-floor, making everyone else snicker, "C'mon, Tristan!"

"Wha-wait, what?" Tristan said in shock, face turning bright red as he was more or less dragged, "Wait, Bismuth do you even know what a waltz is?"

"No," Bismuth stated bluntly, making a few of the on-lookers fall-over anime-style, "But no time like the present to learn, right?"

Tristan looked at that earnest, excited expression and couldn't bring himself to say no, "Well, I did feel like dancing..."

"Alright!" Bismuth cheered as Pearl watched, slack-jawed as Bismuth took a human partner to dance with as well.

Tristan barely retained a yelp and a blush when Bismuth put her arm around his waist, "No, Bismuth, you put your arm here," He quickly corrected her, "Mine goes there."

"Huh, I thought either way wouldn't matter," Bismuth said with a shrug and started to pull Tristan into an enthusiastic waltz, for a moment Tristan tripped over his feet a little, trying to keep pace, their height difference certainly wasn't helping any. "Whoa, Bismuth, wait!" Tristan yelped as Tea full blown laughed at his predicament, "Slow down!" Thankfully, the other three pairs saw this coming and wisely moved to give the blacksmith a wife berth.

"Okay, I am _so_ not going to be out-classed by those monkeys," Seto grumbled before muttering to Maisie, "Watch Mokuba."

"Wha-why do-?" Maisie began before realizing what Seto had planned as he started towards an unassuming Peridot, "Oooh, okay then! Be gentle with her!" Seto rolled his eyes at this, but made no comment as Maisie flew off to where Leon and Mokuba were sitting next to Lion while eating, all three watching the dancing completely enthralled.

Peridot sighed as she swayed to the music, a soft hum under her breath, before Seto asked, "Care to dance?" Peridot nearly jumped out of her physical form from surprise and put a hand over her gemstone as she turned to rather amused Seto Kaiba. "Don't do that!" Peridot grumbled giving his arm a playful smack, "Are you trying to make me self-poof?"

"P-?" Seto began to asked momentarily confused, before shaking his head, "Never mind, well?"

"Well, what?" Peridot asked confused, making him mentally face-palm. "Do you want to dance with me?" Seto asked again, trying to keep his patience in check. "Oh...wait, erk!" Peridot realized and her face turned a leafy-green, "I...I don't really...know how..."

"It's simple, just follow my lead," Seto reassured holding out a hand. Looking up into clear blue eyes, Peridot felt her uneasiness melt away a little and slowly, she accepted the offer, "I apologize in advance for stepping on your feet."

Seto just chuckled, "Thank you for the fair warning." He then lead her out onto the dance-floor and Peridot blushed darker as he held her waist and allowed him to lead her into simple spins and twirls among the growing dancers.

Jasper couldn't help the tiny twitch of her lips, watching her fellow Gems dance with genuine smiles on their faces.

A clear of the throat made the Quartz blink in surprise and turn her head to see a sheepish looking Mako before her, holding out a hand in offer to dance. Jasper's face twisted, not with anger, but with a nervous-uncertainty as her gemstone tingled and something inside jumped at the idea of dancing with the organic, which only served to confuse her, "Oh no...I-I-Jaspers don't dance!"

"Neither do I for the most part," Mako admitted sincerely, rubbing the back of his head, "But...I thought it'd be fun to, well, step out of the norm...together."

Again, something in Jasper jumped, not just at his sincerity, but at the idea of 'together' and looking into those warm eyes, she felt her resolve crumble, "Just...don't say I didn't warn you..."

Pearl could only stare in complete and utter disbelief as Jasper allowed a human to lead her to the dance-floor and together, the unlikely pair joined the elegant figures gliding around the room. A clear of the throat next to her made Pearl nearly jump a mile and when she turned, she felt something jump into her throat and her gemstone felt both warm and achingly forlorn as her greenish-blue eyes settled on Ryou, who looked apprehensive.

"Hi," The British-Japanese teen greet, holding out a hand, "I noticed you looked really...lonely and...I wanted to know if you'd like to dance." Yami Bakura silently applauded his lighter half's confidence in this moment and was mentally pleading for Pearl to say 'yes'. Pearl's gemstone gave a soft glimmer and a warm pulse through her physical form, touched by the thoughtfulness and very much liked the idea to dance with him, despite her usual disdain for intimacy with humans.

 _'Plus, it would be rather nice to dance with Akifa again...even if it isn't actually him...'_ Pearl admitted to herself, bittersweetly.

But then, Pearl immediately turned her eyes to Pegasus, who looked up at that moment to see what was going on and became amused at the sight before shrugging and returning his full attention to dancing with Star. Stephanie caught sight of what Ryou was doing and had to suppress a squeal of excitement, even if she did feel a bit weird at the idea of one of her teen-friends dancing with one of her mother-figures, but she supposed better Pearl then Garnet.

Taking it as a sign that Pegasus wouldn't care one way or the other, Pearl smiled, "I'd love to dance," But when Ryou extended his hand to her, she held up hers, "But first, a more...appropriate outfit, I believe, is called for." That said, Pearl's body softly glowed as she changed her form, making Ryou shield his eyes with a gasp of surprise, but when he lowered his hand when the light died down, he was speechless.

There Pearl stood, in a much more fancier outfit, one that, when Stephanie glanced over, she didn't recognize but it felt strangely familiar at the same time. The top had classic, puffy-princess sleeves that were a turquoise-blue color while the top itself was an amber yellow with a sharp V-neckline with a lighter yellow trim at the waistline. The skirt was a light blush pink with transparent drapes over top, the top layer being the shortest and to complete the outfit was a pair of blue ballet flats.

This was a form Pearl never thought she'd ever use again and just thanked the stars she remembered to remove the Pink Court insignia, less she run the risk of Jasper recognizing her. Instead, she replaced it with a little pink heart.

She blushed as Ryou said, "Beautiful..." And she could hear nothing but sincerity in the compliment.

"Thank you," Pearl smiled nervously before accepting his offered hand. "Oh," Ryou said suddenly pausing in leading her to the dance-floor as they began to pass a vase of red, pink and white chrysanthemums and plucked a red one, before gently placing it in Pearl's hair, making her blushed harder, "There."

Pearl couldn't help smiling softly before allowing herself to be swept into a soft spins and twirls across the room, unable to take her eyes off warm, familiar brown eyes as her gemstone felt lighter then it ever had in ages.

"They sure look like they're having fun," Dorothy smiled wistfully. "Yeah..." Tea smiled as well.

Dorothy blinked as she felt a tap on the shoulder and turned her head to see a bashful looking Sheppard, "Hi..."

"Hey, I wondered what happened to you," Dorothy remarked. "Would you care to dance?" Sheppard asked. "Well, I-" Dorothy started.

"She'd love to!" Tea answered giving her fellow brunette a light shove from behind, making the plumper, shorter brunette to nearly trip right into Sheppard making them both blush bright red. "You okay?" Sheppard asked. "Fine!" Dorothy said quickly, embarrassed, "Let's dance!" She quickly led a stammering Sheppard out to join the growing crowd of dancers.

"Eh, why not?" Rex shrugged before offering a hand to Tea, "Let's dance Gardener."

"Err, I, o-o-okay," Tea said in surprise allowing him to pull her out onto the dance-floor, not expecting him to ask her. Leaving Yugi to sigh, all out of dance partners.

"They look so pretty, like something out of a fairytale!" Leon gushed as he watched. "Yeah..." Mokuba admitted, feeling a little left out, "Now I really wanna dance..."

"I'm afraid I'd make a lousy dance-partner in this form Mokie," Maisie informed from her perch atop Lion's head, Lion yawned in agreement. "Ah poo," Mokuba sighed, before yelping when Leon pulled him to his feet, "What are ya doing?"

"You wanted to dance, right?" Leon said as he pulled the older and bigger boy out onto the dance-floor, "Well, dance with me!"

"You two have fun!" Maisie called as she snuggled further into Lion's mane.

Yugi couldn't help chuckling along with Yami at how cute it was watching Leon and Mokuba spin around the room, trying to waltz, Leon standing of Mokuba's toes trying to make things a little less awkward. The couples also chuckled at the youngest duo.

Yugi hummed softly as he watched forlornly, feeling oddly left out and almost jealous, especially when his eyes landed on Stephanie dancing with her grandfather, which just confused him. Why on earth would he be jealous of Stephanie dancing with her own grandfather?

 _ **'Perhaps it's less of her dancing with her grandfather and more her dancing with another man in general that has you so upset?'**_ Yami offered to his lighter half in advice, a light air of teasing to his tone. _'That could be it, I did feel something similar to this when I realized Rex kissed her cheek too,'_ Yugi agreed frowning at the memory, not noticing the teasing.

But then, a strange heavy pulse vibrated through his head, making him hiss softly in pain, "What the-!" He rested his forehead on a palm, grinting his teeth as the throbbing got worse and his vision blurred. Yami gasped in surprise, experiencing the same feeling as the Millennium Puzzle gave a tiny glow.

 _(Vision)_

 _Yugi groaned softly as his vision started to come back into focus, but then gasped when he took in his surroundings. No longer was he in Pegasus' castle, but an Ancient Egyptian palace hall, or perhaps a ballroom or a throne room. He recognized it as Ancient Egyptian from the smooth limestone floors and perfectly sculpted, square-shaped pillars to the obvious, but beautiful paintings on the tall sandstone walls. He recognized the distinct style of clothing all the people around him are wearing, kilts and fine figure-flattering dresses made of fine linen cloth and black markings around their eyes, all of them adorned with various gold pieces that shone in the torch-lit room, sparkling from whatever jewels were crafted into them._

 _Everyone was standing close to the walls or sitting at the ornate tables, either holding golden goblets or picking at the food arranged on the tables as they watched a group of beautiful dancers clothed in breath-taking two piece outfits of burgundy and plum colored silk, more simpler adornments made their movements more eye-catching._

 _Yugi felt himself fitting in a chair, facing the party atop a raised platform or podium of sorts with a little set of steps. A throne, most likely. Which only served to confuse Yugi even more. Why was he having a dream of Ancient Egypt? Why a party of all things? And why was he sitting in a throne?_

 _Yugi felt something in his hand and turned to look to find a golden goblet like the guests were drinking out of grasped in what **felt** , like his hand, but it sure didn't **look** like his hand!_

 _His pale, natural beige skin-tone was now a bronzey-almost chestnut-like hue, arm lined with noticeable muscle that he knew for a fact wasn't there before...and it was longer then he remembered his arm originally being. It was adorned just like the others; expensively crafted, made of solid gold and decorated with lapis lazuli stones; arm and wristbands, while he counted at least four fingers on his fingers, also made of gold and setted with amethysts and emeralds._

 _"My Pharaoh," A voice spoke and he instantly found his head turning to the owner, a man he didn't recognize, it took him a moment to realize the room had fallen silent, "Before the party is a brought to a close, there is one final, surprise, act that was arranged especially for you."_

 _Yugi felt a spike of curiosity and mild boredom build in his chest, but these weren't his emotions. It was like he was possessing someone's body and experiencing what they were experiencing, feeling what they felt._

 _Then, he felt his mouth move, but it wasn't his voice that came out, "I'm in no mood for pointless grabs for favors." The tone was blunt as it was tired, despite its soft tone, it made Yugi want to flinch, but his muscles didn't seem to want to obey._

 _"I think," The man smiled this sly, knowing smile, "You just might find this one a little more...invigorating."_

 _Yugi once again involuntarily felt his body move, a single brow lifting as he heard the faint patter of feet, followed by soft gasps of surprise, prompting him to turn to look at the new act. And this time, it was impossible for Yugi to tell if the hot burning in his face or the almost sizzling sensation just under his skin or the sudden skip in his chest was his own reaction or the person he was viewing from's._

 _For there, standing alone as the dancers gave her a wide berth, yielding her the floor, was Stephanie. Rather, a somewhat older version of Stephanie._

 _She didn't look all that different; same flawless pale skin, same two-toned out of this world pink and dark-brown hair, same beautiful brown eyes. But no cheek-marks..._

 _And no gemstone._

 _She was dressed similarly to the dancers. A two piece outfit that clung perfectly to her grown curves made from fine silk dyed a dark shade of pink as to complement, yet stand-apart from the pale pink of her hair. The skirt was long enough to almost reach her ankles, but cut off to reveal her small, bare-feet and the thin-framed gold anklets that were beaded with white pearls, matching the tight bracelets on her wrists. Unlike the previous dancers, the top, while still showing off her...upper assets, was not strapless, rather, it had two, thick straps, pinned in place with carnelian pins, leaving her collar bare for the world to gaze at and cropped short to show off her slim, taunt, stomach_ _. Her upper and lower arms adorned with thin gold bands that were, surprisingly, plain and she clutched in her hands a pair of long white and pink scarves._

 _Her face, while not painted with the traditional black markings around the eyes like everyone else, was still done beautifully. Soft, pale blue on her eyes, drawing out their dark color even more, a faint rouge to her cheeks and lips painted an almost red-dark pink._

 _She smiled at him mischievously as new, slightly slower music began to play and she began to sway to the almost sensational beat._

 _Yugi was pretty sure he was sweating from how hot he felt all over, especially when she gradually got closer to him the longer the song went on and further along the dance continued. Until she was just within arms reach of him, smiling sweetly, almost seductive, as she leaned in, giving him a truly mouth-watering view._

 _Then, her mouth moved, but different words came out, "Yugi, are you okay?"_

 _He blinked out of his shock, "Wha-what?"_

 _"Are you okay?" She repeated still forming the wrong words with her lips as his vision began to blur once again, "Yugi? Yugi!"_

 _(Vision End)_

Yugi shook his head as his vision came back into focus, raising a hand to rub at his face, but pulled back in surprise to see his skin was pale again, looking around saw him back in Duelist Kingdom, but now, sitting on the floor with everyone standing around him, looking very concerned. Stephanie was kneeling by his side, looking just as worried as she questioned him again, "Yugi?"

"Ugh...what happened?" Yugi asked confused. "That's what we'd like tah know, man!" Joey remarked. "You just started looking like you were going to be sick before collapsing to the floor," Tristan added much to Yugi's shock.

"Seriously, are you okay Yugi?" Tea asked kneeling on Yugi's other side. "I think so..." Yugi said rubbing his head, "I guess I must've eaten something bad..."

"I doubt it," Pegasus remarked with a thoughtful expression. "Max?" Star questioned.

"Crqouet supervised the cooks himself," Sheppard spoke up, "And I had a look at the ingredients before they were used, nothing looked expired or rotten."

"Maybe it was an allergy?" Dorothy suggested. "Then why did he just faint?" Seto questioned, "Food allergies always result in difficulty breathing and passing out happens after too much time without air, without medical assistance, Muto shouldn't have come to on his own."

"Maybe the food was spiked with something when no one was looking?" Mako suggested making everyone look at him, "What? It wouldn't be the first time some sick prankster decided to play a poor joke at an event like this, granted, in my experience it was always in drinks like punch, but it wouldn't be the first time someone took a different route."

Yugi thought back to before his vision first blurred and couldn't remember eating anything funny and as he recalled the vision itself, his face turned red.

"You're turning red, maybe you need some fresh air," Stephanie said in concern as she stood and helped Yugi to his feet, "Come on, I'll keep you company."

Yugi blushed a little harder at the offer and was unable to form a proper response as he allowed the young princess to pull him along to the large veranda doors, where are a pair of security guards opened the doors for them. Pearl couldn't help the glower that fell over her face as she watched her Little Quartz go off with the human male; know where did she see this before?

Pegasus glanced at Star and Marco, who both shrugged and Pegasus returned to his chair and signaled his musicians, who all nodded and started up again. It took a bit with Star and Marco taking lead to start up the dancing again. Pearl sighed and smiled at Ryou reassuringly as they resumed waltzing along the marble floor. Yami Bakura narrowed his eyes from within the Millennium Ring, it may have been five thousand years, but he still like to know he knew his pale goddess well enough to tell when something was bothering her but she just chose to pretend like that wasn't the case.

00000000000

Meanwhile, out on veranda, Yugi and Stephanie walked along the smooth marble, a semi-comfortable silence had fallen between them, occasionally looking over to peer through the tall windows to see how everyone was enjoying themselves. In the clear light of the crescent moon, the location set a particular mood; the stone railing sat between tall pillars that held up the tiled roof and ivy curled around both the railing and the pillars, growing up towards the sky, the thick stems studded with little white flowers.

The view of the gardens only made the mood more enchanting, the delicate arcs of the water in the fountain seemed to glimmer like liquid silver as fireflies almost lazily milled about the beautiful animal-themed topiaries and the clusters of violets, roses (both red and pink), carnations, daisies and, surprisingly, sunflowers and glow and fairy-like movements of the fireflies, the gentle chirps of nearby crickets and the soft music from the party created a truly magical atmosphere.

"I'll give Pegasus one thing," Yugi admitted attempting to break the ice, "He sure knows how to make a beautiful garden."

"Yeah..." Stephanie smiled softly as they stopped to look out at the garden, before glancing at Yugi, "So...you going to tell what really made you faint? Or am I going to have to pry it out of Yami?"

Yugi spluttered in surprise for a moment before sighing with a small smile and chuckle, "I guess I should've expected that," He then gave a more heavy sigh, before answering her, "To be honest...I'm not quite sure what happened," She quirked a brow, but remained silent, letting him continue, "One minute, I'm watching everyone dancing, the next; it's like I'm in an entirely different place, a whole other time."

Now Stephanie looked more intrigued as she said, "Let me guess, Ancient Egypt?"

Now Yugi looked surprised as he looked over at her, "How'd you guess?"

"Remember that duel you and Yami had with that fake Kaiba?" Stephanie asked with a slight grimace, especially when Yugi instantly scowled at the memory, particularly the added stakes. "How can I forget?" Yugi remarked with a dry drawl that was very reminiscent of Seto Kaiba, that it even surprised himself.

"Easy there Kaiba," Stephanie joked giggling as he blushed, "Well...I kinda had a mini-vision too, while watching you duel," Yugi looked even more surprised, "It was like one minute I was watching you and the next, it was like I was seeing a whole other person in a completely different place," She then thought something before continuing, "Then I had a strange dream after Peridot's duel with Seto; it was like I was seeing through another person's eyes, I was in an Ancient Egyptian palace and..." She trailed off as she recalled what she was sure to be an Egyptian version of Yami, dressed as an ancient king...shirtless...she started to blush up a storm.

"And...?" Yugi prompted when she trailed off, raising a brow as the pale light allowed him to see how red her face was turning. "Well...it looked like...you...but older with an Egyptian's bronze-tan," Stephanie finally answered, "Or Yami with that type of skin-tone, I don't know how else to describe it."

Yugi blinked before noting the similarities in their visions, "That's funny, when I was having my vision, there was an older version of you."

"Huh?" Stephanie asked surprised. "She looked a lot like you, even had two-toned hair," Yugi nodded blushing hard as he recalled the doppleganger, particularly her outfit, "And without a gemstone and she had the Earrings."

Stephanie gently touched one of her golden earrings out of reflex whenever they were brought up, it was starting to become a habit at this point, "Do you think they have anything to do with my Earrings and your Puzzle?"

"It's a possibility," Yugi answered shrugging, "I mean, is it really a coincidence that we're having these dreams about people who look a lot like us and used to be in possession of the Puzzle and Earrings?"

"I learned a long time ago there are no such thing as a real coincidence," Stephanie smiled bittersweetly, "But if they're connected to the Millennium Items, do you think Pegasus and Bakura have them too?"

"I don't know about Pegasus," Yugi shrugged in response as they leaned on the railing, "But Bakura hasn't mentioned anything, maybe its just us, I mean, you said the man you saw looked a lot like Yami and the woman I saw looked a lot like Primrose; maybe we were seeing they're memories from before they became spirits in the Millennium Items?"

Stephanie hummed, eyes looking up at the cloudless sky in thought as she mused on what was more or less a theory. In a way, she supposed it would make sense. From what she could tell, the bond between her and Yugi, and Primrose and Yami was all on a mental level that came with a physical transformation; it wouldn't be so farfetched that a side-effect of sorts would be seeing snippets of those spirits' past life. Heck, with her own dream-walking ability, she would've been honestly surprised if something like this didn't happen. Hell, she was surprised she hadn't hopped into one of her new friends' dreams yet.

 _ **'It's certainly a possibility, though I'm afraid I can't say for sure either way,'**_ Primrose remarked through their link, a thoughtful expression of her own on her face, _**'I'm afraid everything is a blank for me at the moment.'**_

Yugi suddenly chuckled, pulling a surprised Stephanie out of her thoughts, "What is it?"

"Oh nothing, it's just..." Yugi said with a bashful smile, "I just find it kind of...unique, that we have the Puzzle and Earrings, and we met, and these people from the past look a lot like us and had them too."

Stephanie blinked and then smiled, "Maybe it means we were meant to meet...to bring them back together again..." She gave an embarrassed chuckle, cheeks flushing, "I'm sorry...that was so stupid to say, I-"

"No," Yugi reassured with a smile, gently placing a hand over one of hers, "I don't think its stupid at all." Stephanie smiled shyly.

Yugi then appeared to be conflicted with himself before smiling as he shifted his hand, moving it under hers, lifting it up as his puzzle glowed, surprising Stephanie as she looked up into Yami's smiling face. She couldn't help blushing as he rose her hand up for him to kiss her knuckles so feathery light, it sent shivers up her spine, taking in how dashing Yami looked in the slightly modified suit, strangely, his tie came undone, but she didn't pay it much thought.

"Yami..." She greeted softly. "May I have this dance, _Hime_?" Yami requested formally with a slight playful edge to his expression with a slight bow. Stephanie couldn't help smiling a little more as she curtsied, "Of course." But despite accepting, she couldn't help the gasp nor could she be fully prepared for when he pulled her close by her waist, turning her face a little redder.

As the music floated through the air, Yami smiled encouragingly at a still shy Stephanie as they slowly swayed and stepped side-to-side in the gentle begins of a waltz. Out of nervous habit, Stephanie started to softly hum along with the melody and it gave Yami an idea and when they spun around, took Stephanie by surprise as he started to sing, his deep baritone sending another wave of shivers up and down her spine:

 _Yami:_

 _Ten minutes ago, I saw you_

 _I looked up as you came through the door_

 _My head started reeling,_

 _You gave me the feeling,_

 _The room had no ceiling or floor_

Stephanie blushed darker at the declaration, smiling bashfully as they fanned out, her heart-beat picking up as she leaned so far back, it almost felt like she was going to fall over when Yami pulled her back at the last second into a twirl. Yami smiled warmly at her as he spun her in to press her back and against his chest before slowly dipping her.

Inside the ballroom, Pearl smiled with a soft blush as she parted ways with Ryou, who regrettably had to pause for breath and refreshment. Even if he wasn't her thief, he was still so sweet and genuine when they shared small talk while dancing. She couldn't remember the last time she had so much fun or had been so relaxed when dancing outside the need to fuse. Pearl's blush deepened as she touched the flower that had remained in her hair, but her smile fell as she returned to a smirking Pegasus' side.

The silver-haired man took out what looked like a Duel Monsters card and handed it to her, "You know what to do, Little Pearl."

"And how is this suppose to help?" Pearl asked skeptically as she accepted the card anyways. "Call it a...extra incentive, to try and get Rose's...or should I say... ** _Pink's_** baby girl to see things your way," Pegasus answered, smirking wider at the furious look on the pale Gem's face.

"Don't you dare use that name!" Pearl hissed. Pegasus shrugged unabashedly as Pearl trudged off, gripping the card tight.

Back outside, Yami and Stephanie continued to spin and twirl and sway along the veranda as Yami continued to sing:

 _Ten minutes ago, I met you_

 _And we murmured our "How do you do?"s_

 _I wanted to ring out the bells_

 _And fling out my arms_

 _And sing out the news_

Pearl started to crack one of the doors to the veranda open when the words caught her ears and she paused, confused, before peering through and her eyes widened to see the dancing pair as the fireflies began drifting into the veranda, casting an almost other-worldly light on the scene and atmosphere. It was practically soaking with romance, even a being like a Gem, who didn't need to breath could suffocate in it.

The scene was also so painstakingly familiar that it threatened tears to Pearl's eyes as her hands trembled and her gemstone felt as if it could crack, _'Not again...oh Stars! Please, not again!'_ Not seeming to really notice Yami's continued declaration:

 _"I have found her, she's an angel_

 _With the dust of the stars in her eyes_

 _We are dancing, we are flying_

 _And she's taking me back to the sky!"_

Stephanie's face couldn't have been redder though as she was briefly lifted off her feet in a spin before being twirled around. Pearl slowly emerged onto the veranda the further the two got, as not to be seen, hiding behind pillars as best she could as she followed them as they paused to descend the stairs into the garden.

 _In the arms of my love, I'm flying_

 _Over mountain and meadow and glen_

 _And I like it so well_

 _For all I can tell_

 _I may never come down again,_

 _I may never come down to Earth again_

When the reached the last step, Yami twirled Stephanie some more before sweeping the dance into the gardens, his eyes only for her and likewise, her eyes only for him. So neither of them noticed the frowning Pearl as she followed keeping far to the shadows, crouching behind bushes or ducking behind trees to keep out of sight.

Stephanie sighed blissfully, and, caught up in the moment, briefly rested her head on Yami's chest, eliciting a surprised, but pleased smile from the spirit, his cheeks flushing. But his cheeks burned as Stephanie began to sing along to his serenade, her soft soprano voice rang enchantingly through the silence of the garden as they continued to sway:

 _Stephanie:_

 _Ten minutes ago, I met you_

 _And we murmured our "How do you do?"s_

 _I wanted to ring out the bells_

 _And fling out my arms_

 _And sing out the news_

Yami smiled warmly as he titled her head up to look him in the eyes, whispering gently, _"I have found her..."_

 _"I have found him..."_ Stephanie whispered in kind, a bashful smile on her face.

Yami then lifted her up and started spinning them around, eliciting a surprised, but elated bout of laughter from her as they ventured further and further into the gardens. When Yami set her down, he placed his left hand on her right hip, placing her left hand on his right shoulder and they began to slowly turn in circles, keeping their free arms raised as they did as they began to sing together:

 _Yami & Stephanie:_

 _In the arms of my love, I'm flying_

 _Over mountain and meadow and glen_

 _And I like it so well_

 _For all I can tell_

 _I may never come down again_

 _I may never come down to Earth again...!_

Once again, Yami twirled Stephanie into his chest, only this time, he spun her back out, letting go of her as he did. But Stephanie, twirled right back on her own accord, prompting Yami to take hold of her waist and, in a clever play of time cue, switched back with Yugi, so it was the lighter half of the two male Puzzle wielders that was dipping the young royal hybrid, leaving both teens breathless as they continued to stare into each other's eyes.

Meanwhile, a deeply frowning Pearl dug her fingers so deep into the tree's trunk she left deep, almost claw-like groves as she dragged her hand down, showing her displeasure at the scene.

Righting her, Yugi took a deep breath to get his second wind back, "Now that...that was...fun..."

Hand over her heart, a smile on her face, Stephanie agreed through her panting, "I think...that's the first...first time I...I've had fun...since this all st-started..." A part of her wasn't sure if by 'this' she meant Pegasus and his schemes or since she first encountered the Diamonds.

"Same," Yugi agreed. "I didn't peg Yami for a singer," Stephanie remarked prompting a blush from Yugi. "I think it was more a spur of the moment kind of thing," Yugi answered before muttering under his breath, "And the song might not have been just him..."

"Hm?" Stephanie questioned. "Nothing!" Yugi smiled innocently, making her shrug. She then took in their surroundings, they had gone deeper into the garden then she thought, it almost looked like they waltzed right into the forest, "Where are we?"

"Did we really dance right back into the woods?" Yugi asked. "Either that or Pegasus' garden is a lot bigger then I thought it was," Stephanie replied.

"I doubt we could've gone that far," Yugi said rubbing the back of his head, "You wait here, maybe there's a path that'll lead the way back."

"Alright, but take these," Stephanie said summoning a flashlight and a bag of brightly colored marbles from her gemstone, "So you can find your way back."

Yugi smiled and nodded as he accepted the objects, he looked around before picking a direction and started to walk, but was just about to disappear from sight when Stephanie called, "Hey," Yugi paused and looked over his shoulder, "For the record, I like the _real_ Yugi _just_ as much as **_Yami_** Yugi."

Yugi flushed, but was unable to help smiling in response, his voice so soft, Stephanie almost missed it, "You would...honestly be the first..." Yami smiled as well, glad that someone was able to show just as much kindness to his host as to him.

Stephanie smiled softly as she watched Yugi disappear into the trees, unaware of the still scowling Pearl standing barely a few feet behind her, still in her Pink Court outfit. Pearl glanced at the card Pegasus gave her before silently storing it in her gemstone before taking a silent breath and forced as much of genuine smile as she could as she exclaimed suddenly, "Finally! I thought he was never going to leave!"

Stephanie nearly jumped right out of her skin in shock, whirling around with wide, startled eyes, "Pearl?"

"Stephanie!" Pearl cried as if she hadn't seen her in the longest time, rushing to the startled hybrid and throwing her arms around her, "I'm so glad you found us!"

"You're talking to me?" Stephanie said in confusion, but was more then happy that the Crystal Gems were finally acknowledging her and slowly hugged the pale Gem back. "Of course I'm talking to you, why wouldn't I?" Pearl asked as she pulled back, cocking a brow at the small female. "Sapphire and Ruby...they..." Stephanie began.

"I'm afraid that was Pegasus' doing," Pearl sighed tone, souring, motioning to her collar, "He put these on us and said if we tried to inform you what was going on, he'd used them to poof us."

"Sh-shock collars...?" Stephanie whispered in horrified-shock, touching her own neck in alarm. "I'm afraid so," Pearl said before taking Stephanie's wrist and started to pull her along, "Come along, Stephanie, we're going home."

"Wha-wait! Pearl!" Stephanie dug her feet in, prompting Pearl to pause, "What about the collars and the others? How did Pegasus even get Gem-Tech?"

"The others all waiting under the castle," Pearl explained purposely ignoring the other question, "There's a hidden harbor that has a tunnel that leads right out into the ocean and the collars only have a limited field of influence, so once we're in the boat, you can break them off and we're all free!"

"But Pegasus has Dad!" Stephanie protested further, "He stole his soul!"

"That's actually the thing," Pearl said with a smile, "All you have to do to get Greg back is leave those Earrings here and Pegasus will let him go, if you don't have them, then he has no reason to keep him."

"What?" Stephanie gasped in shock, instinctively covering her earrings at the idea of handing over the Millennium Earrings, "But Pearl, I can't just-"

"What do you mean you can't?" Pearl interrupted, "You don't need them Stephanie, now come along!"

She started to pull her along again, but Stephanie continued to dig her feet, "But Pearl, even if I wanted to, I can't just leave! I made new friends and-"

"Oh yes, the other person with a piece of jewelry that Pegasus wants and other random teens you may never see again after this," Pearl interrupted tersely, an almost mocking smile on her face, "I'm very proud, come on Stephanie!" Pearl started to pull her along again, but this time, Stephanie pulled her arm away.

"But, Pearl, listen to me!" Stephanie said not seeing the utterly frustrated expression that fell over Pearl's face, "Ever since this all started, I've been learning so much; not just about things outside Beach City, but about myself too! I even found my grandparents!"

"Your grandparents!" Pearl chuckled, "Stephanie-"

"And I've met so many different people!" Stephanie continued again missing the frustration Pearl momentarily showed for the interruption, "Joey and Tristan are so funny! Seto, Mako and Rex are so cool! Mokuba and Leon are just so cute! Maisie is amazing for an AI! Mai, Tea and Dorothy...I can actually talk to them! And Yugi..." Now Stephanie's smile turn soft and shy, an almost dreamy quality to her expression as she thought about the Millennium Puzzle's owner and the spirit inside it, "I...call me crazy but I...I...I think...I think he might...like me..."

Pearl finally had enough, running a hand over her face before saying a little more harshly then she intended, "Like you? Please, Stephanie, that's _demented!_ " The insult, however unintentional, had both Stephanie and Primrose reeling, the spirit more so then the real hybrid.

"But Pearl, I-!" Stephanie tried to protest. " _This_ is why you never should have left!" Pearl continued walking past Stephanie, dismissive and cold; it made Primrose bristle with anger, but Stephanie, to the spirit's shock, sighed in defeat, clearly too used to this sort of thing, her expression disappointed and demure.

Both two-toned girls froze as Pearl continued as the pale Gem came up from behind, resting her chin on Stephanie's shoulder, tone sickly sweet and warm, "My Little Quartz, this whole _romance_ that you've invented just proves me right," She then leaned to practically whisper in Stephanie's ear, words spoken in a motherly coo, "You're too naive to be here..."

What neither Primrose or Pearl noticed was Stephanie hands trembling as they slowly clenched and her gemstone slowly started to bleed from the inside, slowly changing from pink to red from the center out.

Pearl continued to smile that warm, motherly smile as she took Stephanie's hands and light and slowly spun them around, asking almost patronizingly, "Now, why would he like you? Come on now, really!" Pearl then leaned in, one hand's fingers just barely grazed the edges of the now blood red gemstone, then other slowly carded through Stephanie thick curls, slowly pulling the pale pink strands forward for the hybrid to see, reminding of her of her less then perfect human appearance or heritage, almost hissing, " _Look at you_ , do you think he's impressed?"

Stephanie nearly tripped on her gown in her backing away, staring at Pearl as the pale Gem moved to stand just a few feet away from her close to the tree line, smile still present on her face, "Honey, don't be a dummy, come with Pearly," Pearl then held out her arms, as if inviting Stephanie for a hug, voice soft and motherly, _"Pearl..."_

Stephanie suddenly snapped her head up and in a furious frown, eyes changing from brown to pink and then to red as she snapped loudly, "NO!"

000000000

In the ballroom, Bismuth, Jasper, Lapis and Peridot all jerked in surprise at the familiar, dark feeling that sudden spiked in their cores. They paused in whatever they were doing to turn towards the source, looking out the tall, window-like doors of the veranda, concerned. In the tunnels beneath the castle, Ruby and Amethyst exited one of the barred cell-doors, stretching and looking rather pleased and relax, only to jerk in surprised-shock at the same dark feeling coursing through their gemstones and throughout their physical forms.

Up in Pegasus' chambers where she sat, slowly thumbing through the Butterfly's Spellbook, Sapphire looked up and out the window towards the gardens, mouth pulling into a confused frown at the familiar feeling, but it made no sense to her. If one of the Diamonds were here, it would be impossible for them to hide and they were far too proud to shape-shifting themselves smaller to hide and their ships were eyesores and impossible to hide in weather like this.

Star and Marco both stilled, also turning at the strange, unfamiliar magic that rippled briefly through the air. They recognized it as magic, but they didn't recognize the type of magic, just that it was dark in nature, angry in feeling and nasty in effect, worse then anything Eclipsa or Meteora or even Solaria ever made.

Glossaryck, from his spot lying on his side on one of Pegasus' pillows eating his beloved pudding, a barely fazed by the energy that was slowly thinning into nothingness. If there was one thing that was a real drawback to the Rebirth of Magic, it was his narrowed and slowly receding clairvoyance, especially when he was eventually passed down to Shadow after his sisters were no longer available heirs, only to be given to Maximillion for safe-keeping.

Right now, what he did know was that if things didn't improve soon, the most powerful, most brutal, most blood-thirsty and by far the most indestructible Butterfly will be born.

00000000000

Back in the garden, Pearl recoiled as if slapped, clearly startled and a bit frightened at the familiar feeling seeping through her being, but then realized what just happened. Her Little Quartz...just told her no. This wasn't exactly the same as before with the mirror when the Lapis Lazuli was trapped and damage, no, this...this was personal. This was her Stephanie...telling her no...

Pearl's face shifted into a frown for a moment as she parroted, "No...?" Before morphing into a smirk, "Oh..." Her lips then twisted into something...vicious, something wicked, "I see how it is!"

Primrose looked over warily as Stephanie calmed down, gemstone and eyes slowly reverting back to normal, the shorter of the two stared, blinking in confusion to the sudden tone change. Pearl then began to saunter up towards them, gesturing with one hand as she did, the other on her hip for dramatic effect as she began to sing, her slightly biting, sarcastic voice made her usually inspiring mezzo-soprano feel more...villainous:

 _Pearl:_

 _Stephanie knows best,_

 _Stephanie's so mature now_

Pearl then leaned in close, causing Stephanie to instinctively draw back, but not step away as Pearl rose her hand as if to slap, but instead mockingly patted her head, hissing softly in her face, _"Such a clever grown up miss..."_ Pearl then traced a finger down Stephanie's cheek, roughly flicking against the rose mark, before walking away whilst gesturing with the same hand, the other still on her hip:

 _Stephanie knows best,_

 _Find if your so sure then_

Pearl then brought the hand to her forehead, the pale light telling Stephanie she was summoning something and she tensed, thinking it to be her spear, but blinked when she saw it instead to be a much, much smaller object, _"Go ahead and give him this!" _Pearl turned around with a vicious grin, stretching her arm out to reveal a card.

But in the cloudless, unfiltered moonlight, it was easy to see what was on it. There was no mistaking that hairstyle and even though the profile was faint, almost faded. It was Yugi's grandfather, Solomon Muto.

"How did you-?" Stephanie began to question, but Pearl wasn't having it.

 _This is why he's here,_

 _Don't let him deceive you!_

With a very expert and easy flick of her wrist, Pearl threw the card, almost carelessly to Stephanie, who just, Stephanie just as easily caught it before it could fly by her. Stephanie stared down into Mr. Muto's faded wine-red eyes, gently smoothing a thumb over the picture, brief confliction on her face. If she turned this in to Yugi, there was a very good chance without or without her or/and Ryou's help, he could free his grandfather and he wouldn't have to duel Pegasus.

 _'But then...what will he do afterwards if he can?'_ Stephanie's more anxious and slightly more selfish side questioned, which had her hesitating in the idea to turn it in. The image of Yugi's back to her, walking away haunted her mind as Pearl told her in a matter-of-fact tone, _"Give it to him and watch, you'll see!"_

But those words struck a chord in Stephanie as she looked up at the pale Gem and frown, her confidence returning as she replied firmly, "I will!"

But Pearl didn't look all that convinced as she seemed to stalk towards the hybrid like a predatory cat _, "Trust me, my dear!"_ Pearl snapped her fingers good and quick, summoning a long pink scarf as she did, _"That's how fast he'll leave you!"_ Pearl then moved faster then either Primrose or Stephanie could process, wrapping the scarf around Stephanie's arms and spun the hybrid around, voice almost a yell, _"And I won't say "I told you so"!"_

Yanking the scarf and freeing Stephanie, Pearl returned it to her gemstone and continued to goad:

 _No, Stephanie knows best,_

 _Well, if he's such a dream-boat,_

 _Go and put him to the test!_

Stephanie recoiled when Pearl leaned in to almost snarl the last part in her face before pulling away. Stephanie looked down at the card and something seemed to click in her head as she tried to call, "Pearl, wait!"

But Pearl was already at the trees, turning to give Stephanie the most stern, warning glare the young hybrid had ever seen as Pearl dropped her voice back to normal-speaking volume, but it was quick to raise again, this time to shouting-level:

 _If he's lying,_

 _Don't you dare come crying...!_

 _Pearl~! Knows Best!_

And with a large, bright flash Pearl was gone. Leaving a very shaken Stephanie alone in the clearing.

* * *

 **And BAH! I decided to leave it on a cliffhanger! I know you guys might not like it but, hey, what can you do, plus I'm pretty sure I'm pushing 14000 words at this point including this author's ending notes, got to end this somewhere. Let me know what you guys thought, I really wanted an excuse to put some shipping moments in there and who's to say Pegasus wouldn't throw a mini-gala between duels?**

 **Also, for those who want to know about the songs:**

 **The first song, the duet between Yami and Stephanie, is called 'Ten Minutes Ago' from the 1997's Live-Action Cinderella starring Brandy Norwood as Cinderella and Whitney Houston as the Fairy Godmother. A quick shout out to suntan140 for suggesting it.**

 **As for the second song we ended on, it's the rephrase of 'Mother Knows Best' from Disney's Tangled, the movie, not the TV show.**

 **I'm still open to song ideas for those who want a particular song featured, be it for shipping material or just to add drama, I mean, come on, this may be a crossover, but its a crossover with Steven Universe! There's going to be songs!**

 **Again, let me know, what you guys think!**

 **Anyways, for the part I'm sure everyone's been waiting for, the polls, both official and non-official:**

 _ **Should Yugi remain King of Games or should Stephanie became the Queen of Games?**_

 _ **King: 8, Queen: 2**_

 _ **Should Stephanie get an Egyptian God Card?**_

 _ **Yes: 5, No: 6**_

 _ **If yes, however temporary, which one should it be?**_

 _ **Obelisk: 2, Slifer: 1, Ra: 1**_

 **Guess there won't be anymore votes until we get closer to the Battle City Arc, huh? Ah well, its not a bad placement all things considered.**

 **Anyways, as for the poll for Foreign God Cards, Greek is still in the lead with 8 votes, followed by Norse with 7, Roman takes third place with 6 votes, followed by Mayan with 5 and Mesopotamian is still in last place 3 votes.**

 **Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Till next time!**


	31. Chapter 31

**Now I know I sound like a broken record, but I digress: I do not own Steven Universe or any of its original characters nor do I own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of its original characters, I can say, however, that I do own Stephanie, her yami, Primrose, and all OCs I chose to make, including original Crystal Beasts, i.e. Bismuth Beaver, Crystal Myths, i.e: Garnet Mother Time, and other original cards. If I _did_ own Steven Universe, trust me, things would've been a lot different and if I own Yu-Gi-Oh there would've been a way for Atem to stay and have all his memories.**

 **Screwball6580: I'm glad you're liking this so much, it's a real hoot to write, type, whatever. Live long, have fun and never make sense, because what fun is there in making sense, right back at you ;P! Lol!**

 **foxchick1: To be fair, it's Pearl, even in _Future_ Snow Day proves she can still be a little much when she tried to over-dress Steven for the weather, trust me, she is going to learn her lesson...she's just going to have to learn it the hard way. Glad you love the ships though; I know I do! Lol!**

 **pokemon master sans: First, love the name, second, glad I'm not the only one who found the song fitting for Pearl, glad you like my story though, hope you continue reading and make pick up another story to read between chapters!**

 **Lady Twilight Prime: To response to your review in order; ya coulda fooled me disney-fanatic in horror-fan-clothing! Lol! As for Pearl, well, think about it, she's gonna do what she feels she has to, plus I'm not the only one who felt the song was fitting, just ask pokemon master sans. Tell me; what do you think of the newest flashback of Ancient Egypt? I like to think Yugi enjoyed it o! ;P! Lol! You know I had to have couples dancing and like hell I was going to leave my favorite cheeto-puff out! As for Pink-Steph, well...let's just say this won't be her last appearance and it's going to take a while for Stephanie herself to notice. As for Yugi being a part demon...I'm not telling w! I honestly couldn't think of a better moment to bring out the wand, but Stephanie herself isn't going to wield it until much later. As for the new guy being Black Diamond...again, I'm not telling! Lol! Have fun, mind saving a piece for me? ;P!**

 **Frostlash: Again, to be fair, I'm not the only one who can see Pearl actually pulling this sort of thing in the actual show, so...yeah. I've never heard of this song before but I appreciate the faith, hope you enjoy!**

 **Theinzmann111: I realize the watlz was a missed Fusion opportunity, but think of it this way; Yugi and Stephanie just met maybe two-three days ago, while Stephanie had her entire life prior to fusing with Amethyst and had at least a few weeks to get to know Connie before forming Stevonnie. So the way I see it, it's still a little too early for Yugi and Stephanie to fuse, but on the note of their Fusion; what do you think they're name will be? I'm curious as I haven't really thought that part through completely yet.**

* * *

Sleep did not easily find Stephanie Lily Quartz-Universe AKA Stephanie Lily Quartz-Butterfly that night. Her mind was just too heavily weighed with the evenings' events.

After Pearl had disappeared, Yugi had chosen that moment to return and, in a moment of paranoia and fear-induced hesitance and selfishness; Stephanie hide Mr. Muto's card in the back of her sash, later hiding it under her pillow when she retired for the night. When they returned to the ballroom, her grandparents and the Gems, minus a cold, distant Pearl, almost swarmed her, asking if she was fine, which she lied, despite hating how icky it left her feeling. She hated lying, especially to close friends and family, but she didn't want to be a burden.

Besides, in her mind, she was being selfish enough as it was.

It didn't help that despite her attempts to forget the encounter in the woods wasn't going how she hoped, despite the over-hanging shadow of her upcoming duel. There was just no way for her to get Pearl's chilling demeanour and almost dark expressions and tone of voice out of her mind. She had never seen the pale Gem act or speak like that before, if she hadn't known any better she would've it was a completely different Pearl or a Gem masquerading as her. Unfortunately, Stephanie did know better and it wasn't making her feel any better.

As she sat at the vanity in her room in Pegasus' castle combing her hair as she got ready for her duel, Stephanie was still plagued with her guilt and woes, _'This whole thing is just so screwy, first Pegasus somehow kidnaps the Crystal Gems with Gem freaking **shock collars** and now Pearl turns around-!' _Stephanie's mind flashes to the moment with Pearl in the woods only to flash further back to the incident with Lion and her mother's sword, then even further when she had asked to go to Big Apple City and she set the comb down, putting her head in her hands, _'Why would she say those things?'_

Primrose stood behind her lighter half, hands on the chair's backrest, leaning forward with a concerned expression, _**"I wish I knew the answer, but unfortunately, even my powers have their limits and mind-reading just isn't one of the Earrings' abilities.'**_

 _'I just...I don't understand...why would Pearl...I get she had that collar on, so do Amethyst, Ruby and Sapphire, but they weren't there to try and persuade me, it was just Pearl,'_ Stephanie thought as she picked up her deck and started looking through the cards, until she got to Pearl Cottontail, she just stared at it, _'I get that she's protective of me; I'm not stupid, I have mom's gemstone and I know Pearl still hasn't gotten over her, not completely, I'm not stupid; but I'm not a baby anymore! When is she going to get that?'_ Her hands trembled as she clenched her teeth at the reminder of the constant coddling, she hated it. It was fine when she was little, but now? She just hated it.

 _ **'What are you going to do with Mr. Muto's card?'**_ Primrose decided to change the topic, genuinely curious. Remembering the other new situation, Stephanie reshuffled her deck and set it back on her vanity before picking up the card in question and stared. In the clear daylight, it was easier to see Mr. Muto on the card, but for some reason it was rather faded, like the ink or graphite was old, but she can still see the colour well enough.

 _'I can't believe I almost forgot about him...Yugi's Grandfather,'_ Stephanie thought as she looked into wine-red orbs, faded on the card but no less intense in their emotion, _'I can't believe I'm hiding this from him; why am I so...so confused...?'_ Again, the image of Yugi walking away from her filtered through her mind's eye and she shook her head, _'This is his grandfather's soul for crying out loud! Why should I keep it from him?'_

 ** _'Perhaps you're asking the questions backwards?'_** Primrose suggested prompting Stephanie to look at her confused through the mirror, _**'Perhaps you shouldn't be asking 'why should you?' but rather 'why are you?'.'**_

 _'Why...why am I hiding it from him?'_ Stephanie questioned herself looking back down at the card, _'I'm...I'm...afraid...'_

 ** _'And what are you afraid of?'_** Primrose prodded very gently. _'That...'_ Stephanie began to answer as tears started to trickle down her cheeks, _'That...what Pearl said...was right...that he will...leave...'_

 ** _'And does Yugi strike you as the type to abandon someone in need, even when he has no business in whatever is going on?'_** Primrose questioned with a smile, which grew as a soft smile grew on Stephanie's face, both girls thought back to how Yugi played a part in keeping Leon in the tournament and tried to defend her against the fake-Seto's deal. Stephanie's face turned a deep red as she thought back to when Yugi had confronted her after she scarified herself during their duel with Yami Bakura, before answering her darker half, _'No.'_

 ** _'Feel a little better?'_** Primrose asked and Stephanie smiled at her through the mirror. _'A bit, yeah,'_ Stephanie replied before setting the card down, she then thought for a moment before thinking for a moment and picked up a little piece of white hair-ribbon, placing it beneath her hair like a bandanna, but tied the ends in a bow a little above her left ear.

Still in her nightgown, Stephanie turns to her bed where she laid out her outfits; the sundress-version of her mother's signature gown, the outfit from when she first met Yugi and arrived on the island, her usual pink-star-print shirt and jean shorts, another sundress that was white with a two-layered skirt, the under layer being white and the top layer being pink and another two piece outfit that consisted of a long white skirt that was just a little past her knees, reaching her mid-shins, almost resembling a school girl's skirt with a pink trim on the hem, a matching, slightly loose-fitting sailor shirt that had the Crystal Gem star on the front and a dark pink necktie.

She did not want to wear that dress again, not only did it make her feel like a Mini-Rose all over again when she was trying to put as much distance between herself and her mother as possible, she really doubted she'd want Pearl to see her in such a dress, so she immediately folded it and put it away in her suitcase. She really didn't feel like wearing a dress in general at the moment so she put the other one back in her suitcase as well.

After a moment she settled on her skirt, top and necktie. For one, the outfit was comfortable; it was one she really liked and felt like it really suited her without going all out rebellious to her roots. Looking in the mirror, she realized the only thing dark in her appearance the patch of dark brownish-black atop her head and her brown eyes, everything else was a mix of light colors; pink and white. She was quick to push the odd thought out of her mind and quickly placed her locket back on before pulling on a pair of pale, rosy-pink stockings and her ballet shoes. Plus the shirt was loose enough that when she lifted her arms up above her head, it rode up to reveal her gemstone.

She fastened on her belt and placed her deck in its holder before looking in the mirror again and smiled more confidently as she fastened her locket around her neck, feeling a bit stronger then before.

 ** _'You look great,'_** Primrose complimented sincerely as Stephanie applied a light touch of gloss to her lips. _'Thanks, you look great too,'_ Stephanie replied sweetly and it was true, despite wearing an identical outfit to her own, Primrose's was altered to suit her slightly older, taller and somewhat thinner frame, making the outfit look a little more mature on the spirit of the Earrings.

 _ **'Ready?'**_ Primrose asked as Stephanie picked up Mr. Muto's card and placed it in her skirt pocket. _'Ready,'_ Stephanie replied before Primrose retreated into the Earrings until called upon.

Despite learning how Amethyst and Ruby had dragged Bandit Keith off to a holding cell, most likely one similar to where she had found Mokuba in, Stephanie looked down both ends of the halls before stepping out of her room out of caution, where Lion sat waiting, having stepped out to give her privacy, having spent enough time around humans to pick up the idea of modesty. Stephanie knelt down and scratched Lion under the chin and between the ears, prompting a pleased purr, briefly putting her hand through his magical mane, contemplating popping through Lars' head, just to see how things were, but decided against it. She wasn't sure if she could mentally handled whatever was on the other side of the now two-way connection.

Ultimately, the sooner Pegasus was defeated, be it by her or by Yugi's hands, the better (and sooner) she could start sleeping.

Stephanie and Lion then walked towards the doors to the arena, where they were soon met with Peridot, Jasper, Lapis and Bismuth, making her smile, "Hey guys."

"Hey Stephanie!" Lapis and Peridot smiled brightly. "Nice outfit," Lapis smiled, "I really like the necktie."

"Thanks," Stephanie smiled brushing some hair from her eyes. "That's...an awful lot of...white..." Jasper said as she and Bismuth both cringed at the word, Lapis and Peridot shivered as well, much to Stephanie's confusion. "Well, yeah, white's one of the best accents for pink," Stephanie replied shrugging, "It's a human thing..." The Gems all shrugged at that.

"Where is everybody?" Stephanie asked confused. "Either waiting up on the balcony cause they didn't want to show favoritism or wishing Leon luck," Peridot answered.

"I still can't believe it," Bismuth admitted, "It seems like just yesterday we we're saving the little tyke and now you have to duel him."

"I know, I'm still reeling a little," Stephanie admitted, "But I'm not going to let my friendship with Leon stop me from giving it my all in this duel, I have too much riding on it and too much respect for Leon to do otherwise."

Jasper nodded her head approvingly, "A duel of honor isn't a duel unless both warriors are willing to give their all."

"This isn't a spar Jasper," Peridot reminded flatly. "A duel is a duel, irregardless of how it's fought," Jasper rebuffed stubbornly upturning her gemstone, making Peridot roll her eyes while the other three giggled.

"It's going to start soon, c'mon Tiny!" Bismuth said picking up Peridot by her waist, eliciting a startled yelp from the shortest pure Gem. "Good luck Steph!" Lapis added giving her little friend a hug, Jasper simply gave the hybrid a nod and a pat atop her head, making her give a little smile.

Taking a moment to adjust her hair and ribbon, Stephanie took a moment to take a deep breath, before pushing the doors open, revealing the arena. As she walked towards the blue console, she took in Leon peering eagerly over the red console. A glance to the balcony showed everyone watching with anticipating smiles.

"Good luck Steph!" Joey called supportively. "Man, this is so...new..." Tristan said more to himself, "I'm not sure who to cheer for..."

"Yeah, I mean, we've known both of them for about the same amount time," Ryou said in understanding. "Yeah, but to be fair, Stephanie's the one with the most at stake here," Yugi pointed out.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot that part of your guy's story," Dorothy said in sympathy, "Her father..."

"Shh!" Mako and Rex hissed slapping a hand over her mouth. "Mmph!" Dorothy grunted in annoyed-confusion glaring at them. "Ix-nay on the lost ince-pay!" Rex hissed before looking over anxiously to where Star and Marco sat by Pegasus, accepting glasses from Sheppard, smiling as they watched their granddaughter approach her console.

Dorothy slapped their hands away, fed up, "What? Why should I-?"

"Dorothy, you saw what they did to Bandit Baaaa-" Joey started to insult but remembered Stephanie, glancing over to see she had stopped in her walk to look directly at him, arching a brow, "Perv; Bandit Sicko Perv," Appeased, Stephanie finally walked up to her console, "What makes ya think they can't do worse if they find out about what you-know-who did to he-who-must-not-be-mentioned-by-name!"

"Did you just make a Harry Potter reference?" Seto asked arching a brow as Lion padded up the stairs to join them, rubbing up between Yugi and Mokuba, making the two chuckle. "So what if I did?" Joey replied with a bite in his voice.

"I'm impress," Seto answered smirking, "I didn't know Mutts could read above the grade four level."

A vein pulsed on Joey's head before he snapped, "Why I outta-! That's it!" He tried to lunge, but Bismuth stopped him by grabbing onto his jacket collar effectively stopping him in his tracks as he ran in place, "LET ME AT HIM! I'LL KNOCK HIS TEETH OUT!"

"Joey will you cool it!" Tea said in exasperation as she, Ryou and Tristan all sweatdropped at the blond's antics.

Lapis summoned some water from her gemstone, morphing it into a little ball she hovered in her hand and lightly blew on it, before pulling her arm back. Joey yelped and spluttered as the now icy cold ball of water him right in the side of the face, Bismuth having stepped aside to avoid getting hit herself.

"Better?" Lapis asked and Joey blinked at her. "What was I angry about?" Joey asked genuinely confused, making everyone else snicker. "It worked," Mokuba smirked in amusement, running his fingers through Lion's mane.

 _(Beach City, Sun Incinerator)_

"Hurry guys, Steph's duel is about to start!" Connie said impatiently bouncing on her heels as she watched the older members of their group, who were having breakfast at their leisure. "Connie, you know its rude to rush people when they're eating," Mr. Maheswaran chided his daughter gently. "But-!" Connie tried to protest.

"You kids can always go ahead and watch it yourselves," Vidalia suggested gently, "You understand the game better than any of us anyways." Several adults nodded in agreement.

None of the kids disagree and immediately rushed for central command, where the Off-Colors were already manning their stations, alternating between watching the duel and keeping an eye on any remaining robots Pegasus still had in town. Lars, of course, was sitting leisurely in his chair, munching on a sandwich and sipping from a thermos filled with what smelled like jasmine tea.

"Just in time," The Left Rutile twin said seeing them first. "They're just about to start," The Right Rutile twin added.

"Where'd you get those?" Ronaldo asked Lars, curiously, eyes narrowed at the food that wasn't apart of the rations. "Personal supply," Lars answered briskly after swallowing only to then immediately take another bite to avoid more questions.

"The captain might not function one hundred percent like a human being anymore," Rhodonite explain, "But he still gets hungry, so whenever we stop at a planet that still has plant-life, he stocks on what he can and built a freeeeze-her," They all snorted at the butchered prounciation, "To store it all in and kick-ten," More snorts, "To cook, you should try his taka-yak-ee," Now a few were trying not to fall over from laughter, but thankfully the normally anxious fusion was too into her daydream of his captain's cooking to notice, " _Stars_ , it just so **_divine!_** "

Lars almost snort, facing turning a noticeably darker shade of pink on the cheek, "Rhodonite cut it out, your going to make me all out blush!"

"I predict that the captain is going to be very flattered by Rhodonite's perfectly put praise of his cooking!" Padparascha 'helpfully' spoke up, hands to her cheeks in a gushing fashion, prompting Lars' face to turn an even darker shade of pink as he face-palmed, making everyone laugh, "And the duel is about to start!" They immediately returned their attention to the screens as the window with the duel footage was enlarged a little so they could see better.

"This is defiantly going to be interesting," Jenny smiled eagerly. "Why do you say that?" Peedee asked curiously. "For one thing, this is the first time we actually get to _see_ Stephanie duel," Jenny answered. "And for another, I heard a lot about Leon von Schroeder, and I'm really looking forward to see if he uses his actual deck or one that his brother put together for him," Kevin added looking very interested, which made everyone who wasn't in the know of Duel Monsters Pro-Circuit to share a confused look.

 _(Duelist Kingdom)_

"Hope your ready to duel Princess Pink!" Leon called over making his opponent sigh as they shuffled their decks. "Leon, I might be a princess, but that doesn't change who I am," Stephanie tried to tell him, "And my name is Stephanie, I'd really like it if you could call me that, or Steph for short if you'd like."

Leon thought it over before giving a 'meh' type of shrug, "I like Princess Pink better!" Making Stephanie fall over anime-style.

"The second day of the Duelist Kingdom Semi-Finals shall now commence," Croquet announced formally, "The first duel shall be male dueling prodigy Leon von Schroeder VS Princess Stephanie Lily Quartz-Butterfly," No one missed how Stephanie cringed at her new full name, title included, as she stood up, "Let the battle begin!"

On cue, Stephanie's earrings lit up, followed by her gemstone, catching her grandparents, Leon, the Kaiba brothers, Lion, Mako and Rex off-guard as she switched with Primrose. Primrose stretched her arms out to the side and smiled warmly, "I do hope your prepared Leon, because I don't plan to go easy on you just because your so young." A gleam of pink light caught Marco and Star's eyes glanced down at their granddaughter's stomach where her shirt rode up oh so slightly and blinked, was it just them, or did her gemstone look different?

"I was hoping you'd say that," Leon smiled eyes gleaming as they picked up their first five cards and their life points set themselves. "Duel!" They declared.

 **Leon LPs: 2000**

 **Primrose LPs: 2000**

"Royalty first," Leon said with an almost mocking bow. Primrose chuckled before insisting with a mock-curtsy, "Age before title."

Leon shrugged and drew the first card and already had a plan in mind picking a card, "I'll play this in defense mode," He placed it down and one of his squares glowed, "And I'll end my turn."

Primrose wasn't the only one who quirked a brow at such an opening move.

"Talk about anticlimactic," Peridot remarked. "Why didn't he put something down to defend his monster though?" Joey said confused, "That's, like, the biggest of all rookie mistakes."

"You would know," Seto remarked earning a pointed glare from the blonde. "But Joey's not wrong," Yugi thought out loud, "Leon didn't get this far just on luck, after all, so why not play a trap or spell in case Steph played a beast with high attack points?"

"Maybe dueling royalty got to his head?" Mokuba suggested on his new friend's behalf, "I mean, if it were me, I'd make a mistake or two, too."

"But Leon's had a whole day to get over the whole 'I'm in the presence of and going to duel royalty' thing," Ryou pointed out, "That doesn't sound like it makes a lot of sense."

"Plus, he's been assuming Rose-" Jasper started. "Stephanie!" The Gems, Yugi, Joey, Tristan, Tea and Ryou all corrected automatically. "Whatever," Jasper said without missing a beat, "Has been a princess this entire time, why would he start slipping up now?"

 _(Beach City, Sun Incinerator)_

"That is weird," Lars remarked after sipping his drink, "Its practically customary to throw down a trap or spell or two or one of both, just in case the monster's defense points and effect, if any, aren't enough."

Jenny hummed in agreement, "And Leon never struck me as the type to make these sorts of mistakes..." Her eyes widened a little in thought, "Unless..."

 _(Duelist Kingdom)_

Primrose was thinking something similar, _'They have a point, Leon hasn't come this far getting lucky off rookie mistakes like this; he has to have something planned...'_ As she drew and looked at her hand, she thought it over, _'Maybe it has some kind of special power like my beasts...after all, we never did retrieve his deck after it was knocked into the ocean with those Star Chips, so who knows what he's working with now...'_ She then looked between her available monsters critically, _'I can at least assume it has a decent level of defense points, so...'_ She picked a card, _'This should work.'_

"I summon Topaz Tiger in attack mode!" Primrose announced as she summoned her yellow feline, who roared in anticipation as she appeared.

"Steph sure likes cats, huh?" Joey mused. "Yeah..." Yugi mumbled with a wide smile, unsure why this apparent fact made him so happy on a personal level.

"Topaz attack!" Primrose ordered, "Solar Claw Pounce!"

Her tigress yowled as her claws glowed with sunlight as she bounded towards the glowing square as her attack power starts to climb.

"Hey, why is Topaz Tiger's attack points climbing?" Lapis questioned confused, "This isn't a field..."

"How is...?" Leon started to question as well. "All of my beasts have a unique skill apart from forming Geodes," Primrose smiled, "Topaz's happened to be gaining four attack points during battle."

 **Topaz Tiger. ATK/DEF: 2000/1000**

Leon suddenly smiled, much to Primrose's surprise before his monster was revealed and everyone blinked, Rex being the one to ask, "Is that...Little..."

"Red..." Mako started to add. "Riding..." Dorothy continued. "Hood...?" Tea finished as they all stared in stunned-disbelief.

Standing there on the field was an almost chibified version of the ever popular, red-cloaked fairy-tale character. She was small, in the life-like scale, looking to be just about the same size as Leon, maybe just slightly shorter, around five-to-seven-years-old in appearance with pale skin, rosy, round cheeks, short light brown hair her signature short hooded cloak and big, dark eyes wearing a cute pink dress with a frilly white apron tied around her waist and thick looking brown boots, basket in hand.

 **Little Red Riding Hood. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: FAIRY/EFFECT. Lv: 3. ATK/DEF: 800/1200**

Little Red took in her surroundings before looking up as a shadow descended and shrieked as Topaz Tiger pounced, slashing down on the little Fairy-type monster with her claws. Primrose rubbed at her eyes to make sure she hadn't been seeing things but the shredded hood that lingered for a few seconds under her tiger's paws proved otherwise.

"Did I seriously just destroy Little Red Riding Hood?" Primrose asked in disbelieved-shock. "Better believe it and I got plenty more fairy-tales waiting in the wings, each one having their own little surprise in store," Leon grinned widely.

"First he keeps talkin' like we're in a fairy-tale 'n' now he duels with the actual characters?" Joey asked in disbelief as Mokuba snickered, having gotten a glimpse of Leon's deck last night.

 _(Beach City, Sun Incinerator)_

Lars leaned forward a little with an amused smile, "This are about to get...interesting..."

 _(Duelist Kingdom)_

"When my Little Red Riding Hood is about to be destroyed she lets out a call for a warrior!" Leon exclaimed, "It let's me summon Forest Hunter!"

The monster who appeared, like Little Red, was very human in appearance, male and dressed old-fashionedly in a brown tunic and matching trousers with a pair of thick boots like Little Red, a brown hat with a dark green feather on it on his head. He was well-built, but his hair was silvery-grey, pulled back and just long enough to make a small ponytail. He was armed with a bow, an arrow already in hand and ready to fire, a full quiver strapped to his back.

 **Forest Hunter. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: WARRIOR/EFFECT. Lv: 3. ATK/DEF: 1200/800**

"Scary..." Peridot admitted shivering at the scary frown on Forest Hunter's face. "Big whoop, Steph's tiger is still stronger, even when the power boost wears off," Bismuth remarked as Topaz Tiger jumped back to return to her mistress' field, teeth bared in warning to the new arrival, who locked eyes calmly with her as her power boost wore off.

 **Topaz Tiger. ATK/DEF: 1600/1000**

"And whenever my Hunter is summoned to the field," Leon continued as his huntsman pulled back on his bow, aiming at Topaz Tiger, "He immediate goes on the hunt, removing any one Beast or Beast-Warrior from play!"

Primrose, Yugi, Seto and Ryou gasped, "Remove them from play!"

"Shoot!" Leon shouted and Forest Hunter obeyed, firing his bow and striking Topaz Tiger, who yowled in pain before disappearing in a flash of light.

"No worries, she'll just come back as a Geode 'n' Steph will bring her back in no time!" Joey said trying to be positive, but faltered when no Geode appeared, "Ugh...guys...Steph? Where's the Geode? Why isn't a Geode appearing?"

"Yeah, what gives?" Tristan voiced his confusion, "A Geode always appears when one of her Crystal Beasts leaves the field."

"Yeah, when they're _destroyed_ ," Seto stressed the condition for a Geode. "What's the difference?" Joey asked confused. "When a monster is removed from play, it doesn't go into the GY or the Spell and Trap Zone in this case," Mako explained. "Then...where does it go?" Lapis asked confused. "It goes into a separate pile until the player uses a card to bring in back _into_ play," Rex answered.

"Well, how is she supposed to do that?" Joey asked in concern. "No clue," Both male Finalists answered simply, making both Joey and Tristan face-plant with groans.

Star tensed up at the new information, hands clenched. Marco noticed and placed a hand comfortingly over both of hers. Star glanced at him gratefully with a small smile before re-focusing on the duel, _'Already lost a monster, not a good first round...but at least she didn't lose life points over it.'_

 _'I guess the saying's true, big things really **do** come in small packages,' _Primrose thought impressed by Leon's clever thinking as she set Topaz Tiger's card in a space above her graveyard space, _'But still, his Hunter isn't all that stronger then his Little Red Riding Hood, a monster like my Jaspers can take him out eas-'_ She paused with a blink of shock as she realized what she just thought and shook her head, _'Wait, MY Jaspers? Where did **that** come from?' _She took a breath and refocused her attention on her turn, _'Either way, my Rhino and Puma can handle his hunter next turn, so for now...'_ She placed a card down and said, "Your turn Leon."

 _'This just started and it's already so much fun!'_ Leon thought excitedly as he drew, _'Who would've guessed I'd duel an actual princess; Sig is never going to believe this!'_ Leon barely suppressed an excited squeal, already able to imagine his brother's reaction to hearing how he not only met the heads of one branch of the Butterfly Family, but got to duel an apparent heir as well, Leon then shook his head, _'Focus, Leo! Focus!'_ He examined his hand and grinned, _'This'll work!'_

Leon picked a card and said aloud, "I'll place this card face-down and end my turn!"

 _'At least I know for sure that Leon defiantly earned his place here,'_ Primrose thought as she drew.

 _(Beach City, Sun Incinerator)_

Jenny winced, "Now there's a way to start a duel." Buck and Kevin nodded in agreement.

"What?" Connie asked confused, "What's so bad, can't Steph just use a card like Monster Reborn to bring back her tiger?"

"Not that simple," Lars shook his head, "Monster Reborn brings back a monster from the _Graveyard_ pile, removing a card from play sends the card to the **_Banished_** pile."

"Banished?" Peedee asked as he and Onion turned to the captain curiously. "Banished basically works like a secondary Graveyard or Extra Deck," Kevin explained patiently, "The main difference is you can't use any of the cards in that pile unless you use pacific cards to bring them back, and Monster Reborn doesn't have that power."

"An example would be my Burial from a Different Dimension card," Jamie spoke up as he fished out his deck and pulled out his desired spell card, showing it to the kids, revealing it to having an almost futuristic looking coffin on it, "It lets me return up to three cards from the Banished pile back into the game, problem being it sends to the Graveyard instead of back to the Deck or Extra Deck, depending what cards you chose to bring back, which is where cards like Monster Reborn come in."

All three kids made 'o' faces as they took in and accepted the explanation.

 _(Duelist Kingdom)_

"I'd like to see your hunter handle this Crystal Beast," Primrose said as she drew, she glanced at her new card before playing a different one, "Biggs Puma!"

Biggs and Jasper's eyes both widened in surprise as her new monster appeared with a battle cry. It was a female puma, easily around six ft tall with a slight reddish hue to its thick coat of fur. Her teeth and claws gleamed in the light like knife blades and her eyes were a gorgeous shade of pale blue. She wore a fancy-looking collar around her neck that was chunky, like armor made of what looked like silver with matching ankle guards all decorated with cabachon pear-cut biggs jaspers and to finish the look was a silver ring that clung to the end of her tail.

 **Crystal Beast Biggs Puma. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: BEAST/EFFECT. Lv: 3. ATK/DEF: 1600/1150**

"She really likes her cats..." Mako remarked with an arched brow.

Star pouted, "I was really hoping she'd be a dog person..."

Marco chuckled, patting his wife's shoulder, "Maybe she likes both..."

However, Leon didn't look all that worried, which Tea noticed, "That's weird."

"What is it Tea?" Ryou asked. "It's just...doesn't Leon look weirdly calm for someone who's about losing a lot of life points?" Tea asked much to everyone else's interest. "Yeah, he does seem rather chill," Rex admitted, "If this attack goes through he'll lose four hundred life points."

"Guess he has some big card waiting in the wings," Maisie mused.

"Biggs attack!" Primrose ordered as her puma crouched, preparing to pounce as Forest Hunter tensed, "Aura Claws!" Biggs Puma's claws glowed the game deep orangey-red color as her gemstones before she leaped, flying straight for Forest Hunter, who grunted as she used the momentum to knock him to the ground, pinning him with her weight.

"Not bad!" Leon smiled much to Primrose's surprise, "Now I can use my trap card!"

"A trap!" Primrose's eyes widened as Leon picked up his face-down card and showed it to her. "It's called Batteguard Rage," Leon explained as he set it back down and his Hunter began to glow red, his morphing into a rage-filled snarl as he abandoned his weapons to struggle out of from under Biggs Puma's hold, he managed to get one arm free, using that hand to catch the feline by her jaw, making her snarl back as his eyes turned red.

"Whoa, look at Forest Hunter!" Tristan gasped in shock, "He looks like someone just called insulted him to his face!"

"That's the power of rage," Seto spoke up, "Its unbridled and nearly unstoppable as an emotion, but as a power, no one; man or beast, stands a chance."

"It gives my Forest Hunter a one thousand attack boost!" Leon exclaimed with a grin as his Hunter raised both his legs, kicking Biggs Puma in the chest, shoving her off him, "Making him stronger then Biggs Puma!"

Primrose, Yugi, Seto and Joey's eyes widened in shock, all of them echoing, "A thousand!"

 **Forest Hunter. ATK/DEF: 2200/800**

With the predatory feline off him, Forest Hunter grabbed his axe and threw it, making Biggs Puma yowl as it struck home in her neck, destroying her, making Primrose grunt as her life points dropped.

 **Primrose LPs: 1400**

"Your not the only one with a trap card," Primrose smirked much to Leon's surprise as she revealed her own face-down, "When a Crystal Beast is destroyed either by a monster or a monster's special effect, Crystal Conclave allows me to summon a new beast straight from my deck," She looked through her deck before selecting her chosen monster as a jasper geode formed in her Spell & Trap zone, the deep red shards glowed in the lights, "And I chose Sapphire Pegasus!"

Her magnificent steed appeared through a pale blue portal, earning a gasp from all in the hall, especially Pearl, awed by the entrance. "And since Sapphire was summoned, I can use her magic to add a Crystal Geode to my Spell & Trap zone," Stephanie continued fishing another card from her deck, this time placing it in the lower row on her console, "And I chose one my Quzartzes." A new geode formed, this one having pink crystals shining through the cracks.

"It won't matter how many geodes you have," Leon said determinedly, "Your Sapphire isn't strong enough to beat my Hunter!"

"Maybe not by herself..." Primrose said with a cryptic air, a small smile on her lips, making Pearl gasp softly in realization.

"Yeah, that's right," Joey remembered, "Steph can fuse her monsters without the Polymerization card."

"Fuse monsters without Polymerization?" Maisie and the Kaiba brothers asked confused. "Her Crystals are a lot like my Gladiators," Dorothy explained, "They use Contact Fusion to merge into one new beast, its actually pretty amazing."

"Contact Fusion?" Mokuba asked. "Its a rare type of fusion, I'll explain it later," Maisie answered him.

"I bet she's going to try to summon Mother Time like last time," Lapis mused aloud, mostly to her fellow Gems. "She kicked major butt, so its no wonder!" Peridot grinned.

"But it makes little sense," Jasper said. "What do you meant?" Bismuth asked. "I mean, sure, Garnet's monster-counterpart is strong, but the pebble's Hunter is still stronger by one hundred points," Jasper pointed out, making Lapis and Peridot deflate at the realization.

"Don't worry," Yugi tried to reassure, "I'm sure Steph has a plan."

"Hopefully," Lapis sighed. "Hey guys, any clue which Crystal Beast that new Geode belongs to?" Joey asked curiously, "Cause I don't remember any of 'em bein' pink."

Ryou shrugged, "Sorry."

Tristan and Bismuth likewise shook their heads, "No clue."

 _(Beach City, Sun Incinerator)_

"This is sure going to be a tricky one," Lars mused. "How so?" Ronaldo asked confused.

"Stephanie's really going to have to scrape the bottom of the barrel with her luck if she wants to beat twenty-two _hundred_ attack points," Jenny pointed out. "And so far, none of her beasts seem to scratch two thousand," Jamie added looking a little concerned, glancing at Lars, who remained completely focused on the screen.

Buck smirked, "But you can't deny a thrill of watching her try to figure this out."

"True," Kevin nodded with a knowing smile, "After all, she's spent how long watching the five of us duel?"

"Come on Stephanie!" Connie cheered as she and Onion clenched their fists, the boy silently cheering his friend on.

 _(Duelist Kingdom)_

Up in the rafters, the cloaked woman was watching, this time lounging on her side like a cat, hood still heavily shadowing her face. In her hand was a martini glass, filled with a minty-green drink with a cherry floating lazily in the liquid with some ice and a slice of a pink fruit wedged into the rim of the glass.

"Let see you get out this, _Princesa_ _*_ ," The woman murmured against her glass before taking a sip.

Down below, Primrose gazed at Leon and his empowered Warrior before looking down at her hand, _'Right now neither Mother Time or Kunapipi are strong enough to take down his Forest Hunter on their own and I don't have a spell to increase their power right now.'_

 ** _"But there has to be a Myth that can,"_** Stephanie said in concern. _'There is, but currently we don't have the right monsters in place,_ _'_ Primrose replied as she looked at her hand, _'We still need Ruby Carbuncle, Amethyst Cat and Pearl Cottontail...'_

 ** _'Sapphire, Ruby, Amethyst and Pear-?'_** Stephanie began to question before her eyes widened, _**'Wait, there's a card version of HER? Isn't that kinda overkill? What about Sardonyx or Smokey Quartz?'**_

 _'It's a possibility if we had the right cards, but right now, we don't,'_ Primrose reasoned as she picked a spell card and placed it face down, _'For now, we focus on getting Ruby Carbuncle on the field,'_ She felt Stephanie nod, before she said aloud, "I end my turn."

"Forest Hunter destroy her Sapphire Pegasus!" Leon immediately ordered after drawing and his Hunter, fired an arrow, piercing her monster in the chest, making it whinny out in pain before being destroyed, reforming as her Geode form just seconds later.

 **Primrose LPs: 1000**

Everyone up in the balcony gasped in concerned-surprise as Tea said, "She's already lost half her life points!"

"And thanks to Crystal Conclave, she can summon a new monster," Yugi said as Primrose fished a card from her deck.

Primrose summoned a familiar beast that made many gape, "Pearl Cottontail."

"Steph are you nuts!" Tristan, Joey, Peridot, Bismuth and Lapis all yelled in disbelief as her rabbit appeared, scratching at its ears, completely unfazed by the blood-thirsty hunter in front of her. "How is that supposed to help?" Seto and Rex asked in disbelief.

"SO CUTE!" Star squealed making Marco wince. "Now I feel kinda bad that I have to attack it next turn," Leon admitted smiling at the bunny, who rubbed at her face before turning to look at the real Pearl, who was gaping at her in absolute disbelief, "I'll summon Iron Knight and end my turn."

His new warrior dressed head to toe in sharp, shiny armor, looking like something out of a fairytale and was on horseback, armed with a sharp lance.

 **Iron Knight. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: WARRIOR/EFFECT. Lv: 4. ATK/DEF: 1700/700**

Primrose drew her next card and smiled, "Then I guess its a good thing you won't have to worry about that," Leon looked at her in confusion as she summoned another familiar beast, "First I summon Amethyst Cat!" Pearl's jaw dropped further as the sleek wildcat appeared on the field, "Next I activate my face-down, Crystal Beacon!"

Familiar pillars of light shot up to the ceiling, startling the cloaked woman so badly she nearly dropped her drink as Joey said loudly in annoyance, "Not this light show again!"

"With two or more Crystal Geodes in my Spell & Trap Zone I can summon another one from his deck," Primrose smiled fishing one more card from her deck, "And I chose Ruby Carbuncle," Her little fairy monster spun as she descended onto the field from the combined lights, "And when Ruby is summoned in this manner, her magic frees her trapped comrades for each for my free monster spaces," The exposed crystals in the geodes started to glow as Ruby Carbuncle's gems glowed, "So welcome back, Sapphire Pegasus!" Her horned pegasus emerged with a flare.

Primrose then gave a bittersweet smile as the pink geode began to break apart, "Now everyone give a warm welcome..." Everyone stared in awed-anticipation and Pearl slowly covered her mouth in realization, Marco and Star shared a glance, "To Rose Quartz Lioness!"

Her new monster was a beautiful, slender African Lioness with the traditional tawny colored fur and beautiful onyx black eyes. She wore a regalia/collar identical to Amethyst Cat's made of solid gold with a beautiful rose quartz identical to the one on Stephanie's stomach, matching ankle guards adorned her legs, each decorated with a smooth, perfect cabachon heart rose quartz.

 **Rose Quartz Lioness. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: BEAST/EFFECT. Lv: 5. ATK/DEF: 2000/2700**

"Rose Quartz..." The humans, save for Ryou and Yugi murmured in awe. "Wait, isn't that...?" Ryou began to ask. Yugi nodded in reply, "Her mother..."

"Rose..." Pearl whispered as the female lion threw her head back and released a powerful roar that created a shock-wave that had both Forest Hunter and Iron Knight wincing as Iron Knight's horse started to freak out. Pearl Cottontail had ducked behind Sapphire Pegasus' legs and Ruby behind as the purple jungle cat, who bowed her head in respect to the Queen of Crystal Beasts.

"She's beautiful," Leon said but was a little confused, "But wouldn't it have mad more sense to play her in defense mode? She might be able to beat my knight, but even she's no match for my supercharged hunter."

"Maybe not by herself," Primrose smiled more mischievously, "Did I say I was done?" Leon blinked in surprise as she set her remaining cards down and brought her hands together as sparks danced across her field and four of her monsters started to dance.

"Am I seriously seeing a winged-horse, a four-eared cat-thing, a purple jungle cat and an African lioness wearing jewelry dancing?" Seto asked in disbelief. "Yes," Mokuba and Maisie answered.

With a familiar poem Sapphire Pegasus and Ruby Carbuncle merged together to form her first Crystal Myth. With a twirl of her hourglass staff, Garnet Mother Time struck a pose.

The greyish-purple sparks around her other dancing pair intensified as Stephanie began to recite a different poem:

 _Jungle cat of the earth, lend your speed,_

 _Queen of Beasts, lend your might_

 _Give support to allies in need,_

 _Form a Warrior of Chivalry and Light!_

Her two wildcats then lunged at each other and merged into one and Primrose smiled fondly, "Welcome, Crystal Myth Smokey Quartz Valkyrie!"

Her new Warrior was a short woman, shorter then Garnet Mother Time and defiantly shorter then Opal Kunapipi, have sun-kissed skin and doe-shaped cinnamon eyes. She looked as if she stepped out of an oil painting with the traditional, black feathered sleeves popping out from the sleeveless openings of her ornate silvery chest-plate, which was decorated with swirling brown patterns, which intricately linked up to the cabachon sphere-cut smokey quartz gem embedded into the center of the breast-plates. Matching silvery-grey and brown decorated metal was used to make her helmet with long black feathers arranged on either side, her short brown curls fell out to a little past her chin, giving her a boyish-look. She wore matching armored wrist-guards and knee-high boots with hexagonal shaped smokey quartzes on the back of the wrists and front of the knees. To finish her outfit was the long black skirt that fell past her knees, long slits ran up the outside of her legs to her mid-thighs.

She was armed with a matching dark silver glaive** and a round shield decorated in dark brown swirls and black dewdrops, which all centered around a large pear-cut smokey quartz gem. She spun her polearm before banging the elegant blade loudly against her shield, then banged the butt end of the long handle into the ground, then pointed her weapon at her opponents with a fierce gaze that made Iron Knight nervous.

 **Smokey Quartz Valkyrie. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: WARRIOR/EFFECT. Lv: 6. ATK/DEF: 2100/1900**

"Wow..." Mokuba and Leon both murmured in awe. "Cool..." Joey and Tristan both said jaws hanging.

Peridot immediately turned to Jasper in concern, but the quartz just watched on with an expression of indifference, arms crossed. But Peridot spent days by Jasper's side on their trip to Earth, she recognized the tight, tense stance the soldier was holding.

"But its still not enough..." Seto spoke. "What do mean, not enough?" Dorothy asked. "She just pulled off two fusions in one turn!" Mako pointed out. "Yeah, but thanks to Battleguard Rage, Forest Hunter has twenty- _two_ hundred attack points," Rex pointed out, "He still beats both her Myths by one hundred."

Yugi clenched his hands as he watched. Star instinctively grabbed onto one of Marco's hands, earning a questioning glance from her husband, but the blonde monarch kept her eyes on the duel. Marco gently squeezed his wife's hand in comfort before returning his eyes to the duel.

"Yeah, still not done," Primrose smirked much to everyone's shock as Garnet Mother Time started to twirl her staff around and Pearl Cottontail started to dance. "A _third_ fusion?" Seto, Ryou, Yugi, Pearl and Jasper said in surprise, Primrose simply receited one last poem:

 _Guardian of Time, strong and sure,_

 _Colors of Light, swift and smart_

 _Bond together, hearts and gems so pure,_

 _Let the new arise and play their part_

Garnet Mother Time opened her arms as Pearl Cottontail leaped towards her and with bright lights they merged as one.

"Welcome to the stage," Primrose grinned widely, "Crystal Myth Sardonyx Dryad!"

Her new monster was a woman just a few inches taller then Garnet Mother Time and was willowy with long, thin limbs, her pale complex made her long, curly brown hair stand out and made her bright green eyes pop out, her hair being held up in a ponytail with a bold red band, a few vibrant yellow and orange leaves decorated her bangs and the sides of her head like hairpins or clips.

She wore a traditional, ankle-long chiton*** that was a pale red with a black belt and matching circular pins holding the bands of the sleeves in place, each pin having a cabachon pear-cut sardonyx gem on it, a matching one on her belt. Around her neck on a black necklace was a string of sardonyx beads and to finish her outfit were a pair of dark brown sandals made of silk.

 **Sardonyx Dryad. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: FAIRY/EFFECT. Lv: 7. ATK/DEF: 2600/2100**

"Alright!" Joey cheered along with a few of the others, pumping a fist in the air. "That's plenty enough points to beat down Leon's Forest Hunter!" Ryou exclaimed and Leon was a loss for words at the beautiful nature fairy.

"Now, I believe I have some points to retaliate for," Primrose mused, "Sardonyx, destroy Forest Hunter! Briar Whip!"

Her Dryad obeyed raising a delicate hand up above her head and the rage-blind huntsman was unprepared for the long flexible branch of briars that emerged from the ground and with an elegant diagonal swipe of her arm, Sardonyx Dryad willed the long branch to fly so hard, it sent Forest Hunter flying straight into Leon's console before she swung her arm again in a more straight downwards angle and the branch came down again right on top of Forest Hunter, crushing him into data.

Leon winced at this as his life points finally started to drop.

 **Leon LPs: 1600**

But then, Leon smiled, big, wide and excited, "I was wondering when you finally going to start biting back!"

"Sorry to keep you waiting!" Primrose smiled back, unable to deny the thrill that rush through her from turning the tables, "Now, my Valkyrie! Strike his knight down!"

Smoky Quartz Valkyrie grinned widely at her ordered and was quick to oblige, sprinting forward to attack her fellow Warrior, who quickly maneuvered his horse so he could meet her glavie with his lance. She smirked and immediately sprung, jumping into the air, catching Iron Knight off guard as she stabbed him through the chest with her blade. She just as easily used him to jump into the air and back-flip back to Sardonyx Dryad's side as the Fairy formed more brair branches around herself, using one to sit on.

 **Leon LPs: 1200**

"Yes!" Star whispered with a proud smile, making Marco smile as well. "She's turning this thing around!" Tea smiled widely. "That's our Steph!" Peridot and Lapis cheered hugging each other excitedly, Pearl allowed a tiny smile to slip through, despite her displeasure from last night, she couldn't feeling help proud of her baby girl's achievements.

"Guess this means you really aren't holding back, huh?" Leon questioned with a smile. "Never was, I respect you as a duelist too much to do that," Primrose answered him honestly, which made him smile wider, clearly happy with her statement.

"Just because you beat a monster supercharged with Battleguard Rage," Leon told her, "Doesn't mean you've won yet, I still got plenty of monsters ready to show you what I've got!"

"I know," Primrose nodded, "And my Beasts and Myths are ready to meet them head on, Leon." Smokey Quartz Valkyrie and Sardonyx Dryad both smiled with excitement as they relaxed, readying for their next opponents, feeling their Mistress' excitement and anticipation, and it sent shivers up their backs.

"Man, this is really getting intense," Tristan said unable to help smiling himself. "It's good to see Stephanie isn't letting her friendship with Leon cloud her ability to duel her best," Ryou added with a smile of his own, prompting a nod of agreement from the remaining Finalists.

Pegasus chuckled, becoming deeply invested in this duel, eager to see how it will turn out; will Fairytale characters win? Or will Mythological figures triumph?

 _(Sun Incinerator)_

"Yes!" Connie cheered raising her fists above her head, "I knew she could turn this around!"

"Von Schroeder is better than I thought," Jenny admitted, "Wiping half Stephanie's life points already."

"Yeah, but she sure turned it around pretty quick," Buck rebuffed gently, "You gotta give her that."

"She's certainly grown," Kevin agreed much to Connie's brief surprise, but she brushed it off, remembering how Steph had been spending more time around the older teens lately, the rich teen turned to Jamie, "What do you think, Jay?"

Jamie nodded his agreement, "Her Crystal Myths are certainly impressive, I wasn't expecting her to use Fusion at all, much less Contact."

Lars was leaning back into his chair a deep, thoughtful look on his face, whispering to himself, "Sardonyx and Smokey Quartz, huh?" Jamie glanced over, catching the captain's eyes briefly and in that moment, Lar's pupils turned into pour-pointed stars again, rotating slowly within his stone grey eyes as they gleamed in the light, a slight smile on the captain's face, and Jamie couldn't help smiling slightly to himself either as the moment faded.

Jamie couldn't help commenting either, "Things are about to get...interesting."

* * *

 **And I think I'll end things here for now, I'm really trying to control my word count, plus I'm trying to not sum up the entire duels all in one chapter like I did with Dorothy and Stephanie's, that being said I like to think I did pretty okay following up that cliffhanger, I honestly couldn't come up with anything better, so sorry to those hoping to see Yugi confront a still shaken Stephanie from her encounter with Pearl, wasn't sure how to write that convincingly.**

 **This all being said, let me know what you think of the new cards, with the exception of Jasper Rhino, all quartz cards are going to be felines, I was so looking forward to Rose's card counterpart, I couldn't think of a better jungle cat. I had to look through several different sources for suitable Myths to use for Sardonyx and Smokey Quartz and I think this works.**

 **For those who somehow don't know, a Valkyrie is a Viking myth of an all female warrior race, think of them almost like a Viking version of the Amazons, who were said to arrive at battlefields and take have the slain to Valhalla. A Dryad is a Greek Nymph of trees, think of them as a type of Greek fairy or spirit, the legend goes when a Dryad's tree is cut down, that Dryad dies.**

 **Now before I forget, on to the *notes:**

 **Princesa*: Is Spanish for Princess, for those who don't know.**

 **Glaive**: A glaive is a European spear or polearm, whichever works for you, no two pictures that I can think really agrees on any one weapon for a Valkyrie, so I just winged it, plus its a pretty weapon...on the screen.**

 **Chiton***: A chiton is an ancient Greek piece of clothing for both men and women.**

 **Now, on to the unofficial polls!**

 _ **Should Yugi kept his title of King of Games? Or should Stephanie become Queen of Games?**_

 _ **King: 8, Queen: 2**_

 _ **Should Stephanie get an Egyptian God Card?**_

 _ **Yes: 5, No: 6**_

 _ **If yes, which one?**_

 _ **Obelisk: 2, Ra: 1, Slifer: 1**_

 **Well, it's looking like Yugi's keeping his title, still a few more chapters to go, so vote while you can people. Poor Ra and Slifer, Obelisk gets all the glory.**

 **As for the official poll up at the top of my author page, Greek is in the lead with eight votes, Norse and Roman are tied with seven, Mayan is in third with six and Mesopotamian is still in last, this time with four, so someone finally voted for poor Mesopotamia.**

 **Well, I'm going to let off here, so don't forget to review and remember my golden rule:**

 **NO FLAMING!**


	32. Chapter 32

**Now I know I sound like a broken record, but I digress: I do not own Steven Universe or any of its original characters nor do I own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of its original characters, I can say, however, that I do own Stephanie, her yami, Primrose, and all OCs I chose to make, including original Crystal Beasts, i.e. Bismuth Beaver, Crystal Myths, i.e: Garnet Mother Time, and other original cards. If I _did_ own Steven Universe, trust me, things would've been a lot different and if I own Yu-Gi-Oh there would've been a way for Atem to stay and have all his memories.**

 **Solartiger: I'm glad you're enjoying this fic! Hope you like this chapter too!**

 **foxchick1: I'm also glad you're enjoying this particular dynamic, Leon's always been an intriguing character to me and seeing him interact with someone like Stephanie(Steven) is just a fun time to write, especially with the Crystal Beasts and Myths VS the Fairytales. Yami always helped out Yugi and vice-versa, so I see no reason why it wouldn't be the same here with Steph and Prim. Yeah, I figured since white is easily the best colored to be paired with pink (fashion-wise), so I figured the Gems would eventually get uncomfortable, especially Modern Homeworld Gems like Peridot and Jasper.**

 **Lady Twilight Prime: I know it might seem a bit cliched at this point, but I really couldn't think of a better or more fitting wildcat for Rose Quartz, I'm really looking forward to the Wedding Arc too, but, patience is a virtue after all. Leon really is too cute for his own good! And I'm glad you like the Ancient Era Flashbacks, at least, that's what I call them, they're interesting to write.**

 **Screwball6580: I'm glad you love this so much, and you're welcome for the shout out and for this one! As for Malachite and Obsidian...well...you'll have to read to find out, now won't you? Lol!**

 **Frostlash: Huh, I wasn't aware Jet was a canon Gem, I will admit though I have thought about a Jackal Crystal Beast for a while now with a Graveyard related ability, just wasn't sure what Gem to use, at first I was thinking of Hessonite, but then thought 'nah, Hessonite Hyena sounds way better', so I've been stuck on that. I'll have to think more on it, thanks for the suggestion though! I really appreciate the suggestions for you guys, I just ask no one taking offence if I don't use or if I forget to credit you guys.**

 **Guest(1): I'm only going say this once as nice as I can on the off chance your someone new; I really,** _really, really_ **hate when someone just uses the default 'Guest' name, don't get me wrong, I know you all have your preferences and this is just my own knit pick, but I just need to say; if you really can't come up with a creative nickname just use your first or last name with some random letters; it just saves me the headache of labeling you guys as Guest1 and Guest2-21 and wondering if your the same 'Guest' from a previous chapter's reviews or from a different story or just someone new entirely. On a brighter note, I do get what you mean about messing with Yugi's deck, I mean, why mess with perfection, am I right? Still ya gotta feel bad for the poor red dragon. Apologies for the rant btw, P.**

 **Guest(2): Yeah, this is exactly what I was talking about before, so not gonna repeat that rant. Anyways, I am not in the habit of being a spoilerist!...is that a word? If not I call it!**

 **Now, last time, the second day and third match-up of the Duelist Kingdom Semi-Finals and it kicks off with the duel between Leon and Stephanie and Primrose. Leon's managed to knockout half of the girls' life points, but by summoning two brand new Crystal Myths they were able to knock some back. Now its time to see who's going to win and advance:**

 **Crystal Myths or Fairytale Characters?**

* * *

You could almost hear a pin drop with how silent it was in the two observation balconies, that's how intense and focused the silence and tension was as the two groups' attention was practically glued to the duel before them. Primrose's two Crystal Myths, her Sardonyx Dryad and Smokey Quartz Valkyrie remained in their relaxed stances as they waited for their next opponent, while Leon's field was bare of both monsters and supports after both Myths tore down his prior defense with their shocking strength.

 _'This is certainly turning into quite the supernatural turn out,'_ Pegasus mused glancing between the two dueling Finalists, _'Mythological Figures VS Fairytale Characters, its honestly quite a poetic scenario, all things considered; I couldn't have set this up better if I tried,'_ His eyes strayed over to his unaware niece-via marriage, _'It's no guess to your little nova's motivations, Shadow, all she wants is to have you and her maternal family figures back, the new friends were just a happy coincidence, but of course,'_ He couldn't help a tiny chuckle, _'She is your daughter, you never could resist helping those who needed help, so really, she is no better,'_ He then glanced over to the fabled German child prodigy he had heard so much about, to the point he couldn't resist sending him an invitation to his tournament, _'Leon...on the other hand...'_

Pegasus' Millennium Eye gave off a subtle gold glow, that Marco once again caught glinting through his silver bangs, but again made no comment as the younger man peered into the youngest Finalist's mind to learn his motivations:

 _(Start Memory)_

 _Leon knew he wasn't suppose to go into his father's office without explicit_ _permission, but he couldn't help it. He really liked watching his father work, he always looked so important, even when just doing paperwork or taking taking the briefest moment to sip tea or nibble on whatever snacks were brought to him, so impossible to ignore when commanding the occasional meeting over video-feed. His father always had that commanding aura that just didn't completely filter away no matter how little or trivial the task he did._

 _It was something Leon hoped to one day obtain, to one day be looked at and not be seen as the Von Schroeder Spare first and Leon second, but to be seen as Leon Von Schroeder the second Head of the Von Schroeder Family. It maybe a while away, but he knew it'd be worth it, to finally stand with his brother as an equal._

 _Leon immediately noticed the stake of mail next to his father's desk on the servant's trolley and knew his father hadn't seen it yet because it was still there, along with the delicious little sandwiches the servant had brought up for his father's lunch._

 _He quickly went over and his big eyes were immediately drawn to the large package sitting on top of the neat stack of envelopes and gasped when he saw it was directly addressed to him. He immediately snatched it up and hurried before his father could return to notice him._

 _He couldn't help his burning curiosity, things in the mail were rarely ever addressed directly to one of the Von Schroeder boys and when they did, they were usually for Zig. Not that Leon was mad about it or anything, who wouldn't keep sending Zig things, his brother was always amazing. So when Leon reached his bedroom, he immediately hopped onto his bed and opened his package and gasped in surprise to find a weird looking glove with two gold-looking star-shaped objects in two of the star-shaped holes on the ring on the wrist. He picked up the letter and turned it over, finding a familiar logo._

 _He immediately scooped up his package and ran again, this time to his brother's room. Zig was always the smarter one, he'll know what this was all about. Plus, Leon was nervous to why Industrial Illusions would send him a package._

 _He knocked first and waited for the raspy 'come in', before hurrying and hopping onto his brother's bed. Zig somehow had the misfortune to catch a nasty cold and was confined to his room, since they were both so easily prone to getting sick. It always made Leon feel bad whenever Zig got sick, so he always went out of his way to cheer him up with his storybooks and drawings, which usually worked._

 _Zig looked at the glove weirdly as he listened to his explanation as he held the letter. Zig calmly blew his nose before opening the letter and reading it._

 _"What does it say Zig?" Leon asked confused and concerned as Zig's sharp green eyes widened in surprise. "It's an invitation to Maximillion Pegasus' dueling tournament!" Zig said in surprised-anxiousness, "A personal one if that signature is any indication." He turned the page around to point to the fancy scrawl at the bottom and Leon squinting made him realize it was in fact signed by the creator of duel monsters himself._

 _"But why would he send it to me?" Leon asked, "I'm just the second born, clueless kid."_

 _"No, Leon, don't ever think that about yourself," Zig said with loving, yet sympathetic eyes, "You're a great gamer and an even better little brother."_

 _"But why not invite you?" Leon asked feeling slightly better, "You've been playing longer."_

 _"Maybe he knows I'm sick?" Zig guessed with a slight shrug before turning his head to cough into his elbow, trying to avoid getting his brother sick as well. "Don't see how, you've been in here since you started coughing," Leon remarked doubtfully._

 _"Who cares why he picked who he picked?" Zig said dismissing the question before his previous one, "Leon this is going to be the biggest tournament of the century! You gotta go!"_

 _"Me?" Leon asked in surprise. "No, the pope," Zig said with such a deadpanned expression it would've made Leon flinch...if the effect wasn't ruined by the playful twinkle in his eyes, the nasally undertone to his voice and the obvious Disney reference/quote, the last of which became more obvious when Zig poked him lightly in the ribs with a smile, "Of course you!"_

 _Leon giggled, but his smile faded, "But...but fa-"_

 _"Forget him," Zig sniffed expression darkening slightly with something akin to anger, but not quite being anger, before softening into something more encouraging, "C'mon Leon, you always said you wanted to be in a big tournament and show the world you deserve to stand by my side as my equal, right?" Leon gave a little nod, gears turning in his head, "This is your chance!"_

 _'Ziggy's not wrong,' Leon thought to himself, 'If I really do enter this and at least get into the Finals, Leon Von Schroeder will be the name in the papers and Father and Mother might be proud of me!' Leon felt his heart soar at the idea of earning his parents' praise for once rather then scolding, 'And if I win, Ziggy will be so proud!'_

 _"Please, Lee," Ziggy said with a pleading tone, which hammer the nail in the coffin for Leon's final choice, "If you won't do it for you, do it for me."_

 _Leon nodded, "Okay, I'll go! Just watch Ziggy! I'm gonna be the Duelist Kingdom Champion!" As Leon proclaimed this he jumped to his feet, forgetting he was still on Zig's soft mattress, which bent from his sudden increase in weight and shifted under his feet, throwing Leon off balance and made him fall backwards, thankfully right into more soft pillows and blankets._

 _Leon didn't really mind though as Zig started to laugh so hard he was holding his stomach, turning onto his side so he wouldn't cough on him, but his smile never left his face, which made Leon smile wider._

 _He was going to win this, for Ziggy._

 _(End Memory)_

 _'Ah, what a classic and familiar set motives,'_ Pegasus thought to himself, softly shaking his head fondly, able to feel the bond the two brothers shared in that moment, _'Striving for family's praise and to stand as an equal by an elder sibling's side; something you would know all too well,'_ Pegasus let a smile slip onto his face, _'Eh, Shadow?'_

"Man, could this duel get more intense?" Tristan asked rhetorically. "I can think of a way..." Jasper remarked mostly to herself, mind on the type of creatures under Stephanie's and Primrose's command. "Don't," Lapis said immediately having an idea of what Jasper had in mind, "Do. Not. Go. There." Jasper shrugged and it made then teens and Finalists all share a confused look between each other, wondering what was on the Gems' minds.

"I get where Tristan's coming from though," Ryou said softly, eyes on the field as Leon and Primrose continued to stare each other down, "We all know what stakes Stephanie has in this duel, but we have no idea what Leon is riding this duel for."

Rex nodded, "You're not wrong, kid could be dueling purely for the money to keep his orphanage open for all we know."

Joey just barely heard the expected 'what's that' response from Bismuth as he pondered this, mind immediately wondering to his sister, _'Kami, I hope that's not why he's dueling...'_ It would make dueling the kid so much harder then it would have to be; his sister could learn to live without her sight; Leon and who knows how many other kids would be without a home.

Seto's snort pulled Joey out of his worries, "I highly doubt it."

"Whadya mean, moneybags?" Joey asked irritably, "Know somethin' we don't?"

"I'm going to assume you don't pay much attention to the news outside of Japan," Maisie remarked as she hovered around the group lazily, "The Von Schroeder family owns one of the biggest Gaming Companies in Europe, _the_ biggest one in their native Germany."

"Its the single biggest competitor against KaibaCorp," Mokuba added clearly not caring if that really was Leon's family, he still liked his new friend, he was just too sincere and genuine to be a deceiving manipulator.

"So Leon's like Kaiba?" Tea asked for clarification as they let this sink in. "No, his father, Derek Von Schroeder is the current CEO, he's gone on numerous public records claiming his older son Zigfried as his heir," Seto answered.

Yugi titled his head thoughtfully, "Could he be doing this for individual recognition?"

Seto shrugged, "He wouldn't be the first, doubt he'll be the last."

"It kinda comes with being apart of a high profile family," Mokuba added with a frown, "Unfortunately." Seto just shrugged.

"You might've gotten a lead, Princess Pink," Leon grinned excitedly and confident, despite his barren field, "But don't think it'll last for long, cause I still got plenty of Fairytales waiting to give you a big surprise!"

"Bring it Leon," Primrose smiled in anticipation for a good fight, her Valkyrie and Dryad smiling as well, her warrior standing proud and tall, and her fairy sat on one of her briars as if it were a bench or lounge-couch, both radiating power and confidence, "But you'll find it's going to take a lot more the sheer brutality to bring one of _my_ girls down." The emphasis on the possessive noun wasn't lost to the gems, all of whom gave little twitches of frowns, though Pearl was the most obvious with her displeasure and concern, being eerily reminded of the time Pink was throwing that Diamond Possessiveness around over a few of her Amethysts when one of Blue Diamond's Emeralds came around.

"We'll see..." Leon shot back but without any malice to his tone as he drew his next card and grinned widely, "Now you're in trouble!" Primrose arched a delicate brow in response, "I summon Hexe Trude!"

His new monster was yet another human, a beautiful, slender woman with long, wild dark purple hair with a fair complexion and sharp, calculative and confident hazel eyes, long, narrow, red tattoos were printed beneath her eyes like streaks of of a tear or a fangs. She was bare-foot, wearing thick looking bangles made of what looked like gold on her wrists and ankles. She wore a form-fitting, flattering dark red dress with thin straps for sleeves and a slit up each outer side of her legs. A gold, thin-looking belt with a teal-bluish-green jewel for the buckle sat snug around her waist, a matching jewel hung from her neck on a dark red choker, matching the teardrop-like jewels that hung from her ears and the single on in the center of her forehead.

 **Hexe Trude. Attribute: DARK. Tribe: SPELLCASTER/EFFECT. Lv: 8. ATK/DEF: 2600/2100**

Hexe smirked as she curtsied in a mocking fashion to the mythological figures, both of whom frowned slightly, tensing at the presence of the DARK spellcaster. From within Yugi's monsters' chamber within the puzzle, many a male monster turned bright red, particularly the Dark Magician, who turned away from the duel, and from within the confines of Peridot's gemstone, her male Elemental Heroes were no better, which made monsters like Mystical Elf and Burstinatrix to frown.

"Wow..." Tristan said as he, Ryou, Rex, Joey, Mako and Yugi blushed at the sight of the beautiful monster, even Seto's cheeks were a suspicious pink. Mokuba looked between his brother and Joey, as did Lion, before he turned to the pink cat, who looked just as confused and just shrugged, prompting Mokuba to shrug back.

Bismuth, Lapis, Peridot and Jasper all frowned in annoyance; Bismuth chuffed Tristan upside the head as gentle as possible, whilst Lapis had no problems just plain smacking Joey upside the head, only she used one of her wings, drenching him in the process, making him yelp in shock, gurgling when he got water in his mouth. Peridot simply elbowed Seto in the side, pouting and crossing her arms along with Lapis when both boys looked at them confused. Jasper bonked Mako on the head as gently as she was able, her only response to his inquisitive look being, "You were staring."

Tea and Dorothy took their cues to snap Ryou, Yugi and Rex out of it themselves. Though, no one noticed how Pearl had noticed how Ryou was staring at the new monster and was also pouting.

"She's beautiful..." Primrose admitted with sincerity, which made Hexe Trude blink in surprise, but smile, pleased.

"And she packs a punch too!" Leon grinned proudly, making Hexe puff up proudly, much to Pegasus, Marco and Star's amusement, "As she attacks your Valkyrie!" Hexe smirked widely as she conjured a ball of magic.

"Oh no!" Primrose realized with panic but could do nothing as Hexe launched her attack at Smoky Quartz Valkyrie, who tried to shield herself but was destroyed, much to Sardonyx Dryad's shock.

 **Primrose LPs: 500**

"She's down to only five hundred life points!" Tea said in worry. "Don't worry, she always turns things like this around," Peridot said despite looking ready to panic herself. "Yeah, life or death situations, not card games!" Lapis reminded, prompting Bismuth to shush her. "Come on Steph!" Joey called supportively.

 _'Maybe I overestimated the power of a child's love,'_ Pegasus mused to himself, feeling a little bad for his unawares niece-via-marriage. _'At least she's made it this far,'_ Marco thought optimistically, unaware of the stakes for Stephanie's side of things.

Star clutched at her skirt tightly, silently cheering her granddaughter on. Up in the rafters, the cloaked woman continued to watch, _'Let's see how your baby girl gets out of this one Shadow...'_ Her lips twisted into an ugly frown at just the mere thought of the name.

"You might have beaten Smoky Quartz," Primrose said as the two cats used to create her warrior reappeared on the field, both crouching in low, defensive stances, "But when a Myth is destroyed, the Beasts used to make them return to the field."

"I'm not worried," Leon said calmly without smugness or arrogance as he simply stated, "Its not like they can destroy Hexe." His spellcaster in question giggled in amusement as both the lioness and wildcat bared their fangs warningly at her.

"Be that as it may, you won't be able to make any more dents into my life points as long as they're in defense mode," Primrose rebuffed just as calm, not taking offense to his stating the obvious, "Besides, even if you do destroy both of them before I can destroy Hexe Trude, she can't exactly take out my Dryad either," Her fairy in question gave the DARK monster a hard stare down, "They're evenly matched."

"For now..." Leon giggled mischievously in a knowing singsong-way that made Primrose arch a brow.

"Wow..." Rex blinked, "Just...just wow!"

"Kid's certainty got a pair, I'll give him that!" Mako smiled widely in amusement to Leon's confidence, "Speaking to royalty like that!"

Mokuba leaned to look at the Fisherman Duelist in confusion, asking, "A pair of what?"

Seto and Maisie shot him a death glare and the Water Finalist gulped, "Err...ask your brother!"

"Ask Maisie," Seto immediately deadpanned when Mokuba turned to look up at him, making Maisie huff.

"It's just an expression about how confident your friend is, Mokie," Maisie said as she hovered down to Mokuba's eye level, "I'll explain in context when your older," Mokuba went to open his mouth and she cut him off, "As in, when your sixteen, older." She then returned to her perch on Seto's shoulder as Mokuba pouted, only to giggle when Lion licked his cheek in comfort.

 _'I'm willing to bet that means Leon probably has another card like Battleguard Rage to boost Hexe's attack power,'_ Primrose thought as she drew, lips pinching slightly in a frown to see it was the magic card Rare Value, _'Then again, it could be a bluff to get me to change Dryad to Defense Mode so she'll be easier for Hexe to destroy, so I'll just leave things as they are, for now.'_

Nodding to herself, Primrose declared, "I'll leave my monsters as they are and end my turn."

"You really should have switched her to Defense Mode," Leon remarked earning an arched brow in turn as he drew, "I'll prove it by playing a different card, "I play Hidden Armory!" Everyone rose a brow in intrigue as a blue portal appeared before Hexe Trude.

"And what, prey tell, does that do?" Primrose asked. "In return for sending the top card of my deck to the graveyard I can give Hexe Trude any weapon I chose," Leon answered with a wide smile, much to everyone's shock.

" _Any_ weapon?" Mako and Bismuth echoed in shock. "Who knows what kind of power boost that could give!" Peridot exclaimed in worry. "Stephanie!" Yugi and Lapis called in worry as Hexe Trude stuck her hand into the small wormhole.

"And I chose to give her the power of the Wonder Wand!" Leon declared after placing the top card on his deck to his graveyard and Hexe Trude pulled out wooden wand with a tribal face on the metal section of the hand that had rubies for eyes and it had a large circular jewel atop of a sea-green color, "Which increases her attack points by five hundred!"

 **Hexe Trude. ATK/DEF: 3100/2100**

"Ah!" Primrose gasped in shock as Sardonyx Dryad's eyes widened, along with Amethyst Cat's and Rose Quartz Lioness'. "But she only has five hundred life points left!" Ryou said in horrified realization. "If that attack hits she'll be out!" Tristan added.

"Stephanie!" Dorothy, Yugi, Rex and Joey called in alarm as Hexe Trude charged her attack.

"Sardonyx Dryad!" Primrose called getting her fairy's attention, "Crystal Nourishment!" Sardonyx Dryad's eyes widened before she nodded and placed her hands down on the branch she was sitting on, muttering her spell under breath.

"Hey look!" Mokuba exclaimed as two small branches reached up in the Spell & Trap Zone and coiled around Biggs' Geode.

They watched in shock as the color slowly faded from the crystals, the color turned into a glow that traveled up the branches to Sardonyx Dryad. "What's...going on?" Leon asked stunned as the Geode then crumbled to pieces and the branches fell away.

"If there's an EARTH Crystal Beast in the Spell & Trap Zone I can use it to give my Dryad a small power boost," Primrose explained as Dryad waved her arms in an upward motion, forming a wall of brairs just as Hexe Trude sent her attack hurtling towards her, "It may not be enough to match the power of your wand, but it keeps my life points...relatively safe."

 **Sardonyx Dryad. ATK/DEF: 2900/2100**

The attack burned through the wall and struck Sardonyx Dryad head on, making her shriek before disappearing, Garnet Mother Time and Pearl Cottontail appearing in defensive positions in her place.

 **Primrose: 300**

"Oh thank the stars!" Peridot sighed along with the others in relief at pink quartz's quick thinking. Star and Marco also sighed in relief, silently proud of how well a fight their granddaughter was putting up to keep herself in the match.

 _(Beach City, Sun Incinerator)_

 _"Oh, gracias a Dios...!*"_ Kevin sighed in relief as he and a few others literally dropped to their knees in relief at the turnaround. Jenny was actually clutching at her chest, "I don't know how much more of this I can take!"

Kiki nudged her sister with a good-natured eye-roll, "You're not Grandma, Jen." Jenny nudged her back in response.

Lars, however, was grinning ear-to-ear, "She remind you guys of anyone?" To which the remaining two Cool Kids, Kevin and Jamie all groaned.

"Don't even," Jamie told the Captain, "Just don't." The other kids all shared a look of complete confusion, as did the Off Colors, but they all shrugged.

 _(Duelist Kingdom)_

 _'What do I do now?'_ Primrose thought as panic started to creep in, her eyes wide and frantic as she search for something to do after drawing her next card and saw it was Crystal Abundance, another magic card that was useless at the moment, _'I might have a few myths that could beat Hexe Trude, but I can use my Beasts in a fusion again until my next turn, and if Leon summons another monster, he'll take out two of them by then, and I won't be able to use them!'_ The world around her started to turn dark, _'Wh-what am I doing? I-I can't think of what to do? What if I lose here? I can't just fail now! Not with Stephanie's family on the line, even if one at the very least isn't entirely on our side; what right do I have as an intruder on **her** life to gamble with the Gems? Her father?'_

 ** _'Calm_ down,'** A familiar voice told her as she felt a pair of arms encircle around her waist, making her blink in surprise and look to see it was Stephanie, both seemingly unaware of the dark space around them and how their cheek-marks were glowing softly. _'Stephanie?'_ Primrose questioned startled.

 _ **'Who said you had to carry these tensions by yourself? We're in this together, remember?'**_ Stephanie asked with encouraging manner, _**'We share the same body now and I chose to keep wearing the Earrings, no one's an intruder here.'**_

 _'I...'_ Primrose thought gaze softening as the panic began to ebb away. **_'Besides, aren't you thinking a little far ahead?'_** Stephanie asked, **_'Leon's most likely going to take out Mother Time first, so any further fusions with her are out, especially if he targets Ruby Carbuncle or Sapphire Pegasus afterwards, what does that leave us with?'_**

 _'Not exactly a lot of options,'_ Primrose answered, _'There's always Kunapipi, assuming he doesn't take out Amethyst Cat or Pearl Cottontail, but she can't match Hexe Trude's thirty-one hundred, our only other available monster is Jasper Rhino and she wouldn't even make a dent in them.'_

 ** _'We'll just have to wait and see, for now,'_** Stephanie remarked with a gentle smile and Primrose nodded in agreement.

Primrose breathed through her nose to calm down fully before opening her eyes to the arena once more, and said calmly, "I'll have to pass my turn for now." Leon nodded his understanding and drew.

 _'Strange,'_ Pegasus though confused as he looked to the spirit of the Millennium Earrings, _'She was just panicking not even a second ago, she should've placed one of her magic cards down; now's just...dead calm; how can someone just switch how they're feeling on a dime?'_

"First I'll play Polymerization!" Leon declared much to everyone's surprise, "You're not the only one with Fusions on their side, Princess Pink!"

Two monsters appeared on his field; one was about the size of Kuriboh, but less friendly looking with lighter brown fur, longer limbs with four digits instead of three, and three amber yellow eyes with cat-like, slit pupils. The other was a tall human woman with long, dark violet hair and had her eyes closed, she wore a long dress similar to the Mystical Elf, but black in color and creamy colored trim on the neck and shoulder-lines, a large eye symbol in the center, two dark brown, wing-like hair pins sat on either side of her head and, like her ally, had a third eye, which was wide open and a light greenish color, in the center of her forehead.

"I'll use it to merge my Sangan," Leon continued as his little furball growled with a wide, mischievous grin, "And my Witch of the Black Forest together!" His witch sighed as she was pulled into a vortex with Sangan, "To form the Sanwitch!"

His new monster was almost painfully short, like Ruby short, and could only be described as some sort of green imp rather then human as most spellcasters appeared to be. Like Sangan, his eyes were an amber yellow with cat-like pupils, but wore a brown robe under a cream-color cloak with a raised collar that hide the lower half of his mouth with big yellow shoes. A matching color-schemed turban-like hat sat atop his head with a single eye in the center of the band over his forehead and he held a staff made of bronze that ended at the bottom with a sphere and at the top with a tight spiral.

 **Sanwitch. Attribute: DARK. Tribe: SPELLCASTER/FUSION. Lv: 8. 2100/1800**

Tristan and Joey snorted as they caught on to the pun of the new monsters' name despite themselves, Tea and Seto rolled their eyes as Mokuba, Dorothy, Rex and Ryou started to chuckle, Mako and Yugi cracked grins as well. Bismuth, Lapis, Peridot and Jasper, however, didn't get what was so funny and just shared confused looks. Even Lion and the other monsters on the field were all cracking grins, shaking with suppressed laughter.

Marco and Star, however, both shot Pegasus dry, incredulous looks. Pearl just slapped herself in the face.

"What?" Pegasus asked innocently. "Really?" Marco asked, "Just...just really?"

 _(Beach City, Sun Incinerator)_

"I don't get it," Connie said as she, Peedee, Onion and the Other Colors watched the teens all laugh hysterically to the point they were all on the floor, including Lars, who had fallen out of his chair, "What's so funny?" Onion shrugged, not getting it either.

"Classic, just classic!" Jenny managed to breath out between peels of laughter. "Who...who...who knew Pegasus of all people was a...a..." Jamie gasped out, clutching his stomach, " _Punster!_ "

Buck was actually banging the floor and kicking his legs out as he laughed, "Cream's gooo...going to be...sooo pissed that he missed that!"

"I still don't get it," Peedee said lost. "Bro...think about it, _San **witch**_ ," Ronaldo told his brother, stressing out each part of the name, making his brother and the others think on it, before it suddenly clicked.

Peedee covered his mouth, trying to contain his laughter as he bent over, Onion grinned widely, shoulders shaking, while Connie fell over from laughing so hard.

Even with her damaged Future Vision, Padparadscha still couldn't figure out what so funny, so she just shrugged confusedly with the other Off-Colors.

 _(Duelist Kingdom)_

"Next I summon Forest Wolf!" Leon continued with one more summon, his monster being a large grey wolf wearing a pink apron and night-cap.

 **Forest Wolf. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: BEAST/EFFECT. Lv: 3. ATK/DEF: 1800/300**

"Welp, we had Little Red Riding Hood 'n' her Hunter," Joey remarked looking a bit defeated along with a few of the others, "I was wonderin' if we were gonna see the Big Bad Wolf."

"Next I use Hidden Armory to give my Sanwitch the magic of Mage Power!" Leon continued sending another card to his graveyard as another wormhole opened up and a red aura filtered out, absorbing into Sanwitch's staff, before emcompassing the rest of him, "It grants him five hundred extra attack and defense points for each magic card I currently have in use, including itself," Leon then held up three fingers, "And I count three, giving him an additional fifteen hundred points!"

 **Sanwitch. ATK/DEF: 3600/3300**

"Now he has two monsters with over three thousand attack points!" Tea said in worry. "And he can just power up his Sanwitch even further on his next turn by using Hidden Armory to pull out another equip spell for his other monsters," Yugi added thumbnail between his teeth as he watched, as proud as he was of Leon doing so well, he was just as worried for how Stephanie was going to pull out a win.

"Now first, Hexe take out Garnet Mother Time!" Leon ordered prompting the two spellcasters to stare each other time, before Hexe smirked as she obeyed, firing a blast of magic at her LIGHT counterpart, who tried to block with her staff, but was blasted off her feet and destroyed when her back hit the console.

Ruby Carbuncle and Sapphire Pegasus took up defense positions on the field as the fusion broke apart, one had her teeth bared in warning and the other lowered herself so she could defend with her horn if need be.

"Now Sanwitch attack Rose Quart Lioness!" Leon followed up and his shorter spellcaster slammed his staff into the ground, forming a red ball of magic at the spiral end, before shooting bolts of the magic at his ordered target. Rose Quartz Lioness managed to avoid two, but was hit by several more and was destroyed. Pearl covered her mouth with wide eyes as the pink shards reformed into a Geode.

"I know how much wolves like rabbits," Leon smiled mischievously as his wolf licked its lips, prompting Pearl Cottontail to gulp and start to sweat and shake nervously, "So, Forest Wolf, have fun." Without any further words, his wolf bounded forth on all forth, making a beeline for the smallest Crystal Beast.

Pearl Cottontail screeched in alarm and quickly turned and ran, but was soon caught in Forest Wolf's jaws by the neck, only to be suddenly tossed into the air. Pearl Cottontail shrieked as she flew while Forest Wolf opened its jaws wide and swallowed the rabbit whole.

"It swa-swa-swallowed her whole!" Peridot gulped in horror. "Yep, and no shards, means no Geode," Leon smirked as no Geode formed for the small Beast.

Primrose gritted her teeth before taking a deep breath to keep herself calm and level-headed, she drew and silently cursed at the sight of her trap card 'Rainbow Gravity', before saying, "I'll have to pass my turn again."

"Oh boy," Tristan said with a wince. "She's going to be all out of monsters her next turn!" Tea said in concern.

"Seto, why doesn't fuse her monsters again?" Mokuba asked. "I'm guessing there's a set-back to Contact Fusion is that it takes a turn or so before you can use them again after they split apart," Seto theorized as Leon drew.

"Sanwitch, Hexe, take out her Sapphire Pegasus and Amethyst Cat!" Leon ordered and his two DARK spellcasters obeyed, crossing the top of their wands together for one conjoined blast, which shot out in forms of dark red electricity, destroying the intended targets as Amethyst Cat tried in vain to avoid them and Sapphire Pegasus tried to shield herself.

Two Geodes formed, flanking the rose quartz one in Primrose's Spell & Trap Zone.

"Wolfie, the last one's yours," Leon said and his Forest Wolf immediately dashed forth towards Ruby Carbuncle, who immediately booked it, trying to avoid the hungry canine, only to be grabbed by her tail and flung into the air like Pearl Cottontail and swallowed whole in the same manner.

Only this time, Forest Wolf's stomach bugled a bit and a muffled shriek could be heard from Pearl Cottontail, followed by an equally muffled sound from Ruby Carbuncle and more sounds started to be heard, much Forest Wolf's annoyance as it punched the two through its stomach, making them squeak and fall silent. A few spectators sweat-dropped at this.

Leon suddenly cheered, "And that's one more step for me!"

"One more step?" Ryou and Rex questioned.

 ** _'Hey that's right!'_** Stephanie realized. _'What is it, Stephanie?'_ Primrose questioned a little surprised by her lighter half's suddenness. _**'We know why Joey and Yugi are in this tournament, heck, everyone knows why Kaiba was on the island at all,' **_Stephanie pointed out, **_'We even know why Mai was competing, even if was a lot more selfish compared to the rest of us, but, did anyone ever ask why Leon's here? I mean, he's younger then Mokuba; what could he possibly want out of all this?'_**

Primrose immediately saw what her lighter half was getting at, aside from the obvious fame and fortune that Pegasus was offering, what else could someone as young and as genuinely innocent as Leon could possibly really want out of a big tournament like Duelist Kingdom? Nothing immediately came to mind and if what Seto had said about Leon's family was true, there really wasn't much Leon could actually want in regards to that one special request he promised the winner should they beat him.

"Everything okay over there Princess Pink?" Leon called over when Primrose made no move to begin her turn, instead appearing to be deep in thought. "Before I continue this Leon, there's something I want to ask you," Primrose said in a firm, but gentle tone, making Leon tilt his head in confusion, "This tournament; why did you accept the invitation? Aside from the fortune and fame, I can't think of anything you could actually want out of all of this, even then, you never struck me as the type to really care for that."

Understanding dawned on Leon and he chuckled scratching a cheek with a wide smile, "To tell you the truth, I almost didn't accept or show up," Everyone looked shocked to learn this, "I'm not really used to being the brother everyone actually wants taking part in the big events, Ziggy's the one with all the talent, Father said so," Primrose was pretty sure she wasn't the only one who narrowed her eyes at that last part, heck, call her crazy, but his own monsters looked a little ticked, "But Zig was actually the one who talked me into it; he knows I really wanted the chance to show our family I'm just as good as he is at things."

"So, Leon's only in this for self-recognition among his family?" Peridot asked for clarification. "And apparently his own father thought he wasn't worth the chance," Joey growled darkly, already not liking the Von Schroeder Patriarch any more then he did Seto or Pegasus, which was saying something.

 _'How much do you want to bet this is more then self-esteem issues?'_ Yugi questioned the spirit of his puzzle. _**'If there is, can I please Mind Crush his 'father' into the next millennium?'**_ Yami asked and Yugi actually thought it over. _'Maybe...'_ Yugi answered, which was enough to placate Yami...for now.

 _'How many families have to keep making big wedges between siblings just for it blow up in everyone's faces for people to realize its not ideal?'_ Star wondered cringing at the memories the implications were bringing up in her mind. _'At least his brother appears to genuinely care for him,'_ Marco appeased himself despite how he could feel the dark thrum of magic burning in his cheeks at the likely scenarios that drove Leon into apparently being used to not being pacifically invited to things over his brother.

Up in the rafters, the woman bit the inside of her cheek and gripped onto the beam she was sitting on hard enough to cause a deep pair of dents into the thick metal.

 ** _'So he's dueling...so his family will acknowledge him?'_** Stephanie questioned feeling her heart breaking at the idea of Leon trying so hard to get some sort of praise, just to be shot down at every turn. In turn it fueled a protective fire in both her and the spirit of her earrings, but it was the later who spoke out loud, "Leon, I-" But she didn't get the chance to finish.

"You know, it's really sheer dumb luck I'm even here," Leon admitted to everyone's surprise, "If I didn't sneak into my father's office and found that letter, he probably would've forced Zig to enter instead," Leon then looked very upset and worried, "And Zig's still sick..."

Jaws hanged open at the admission. A father, who was suppose to be protecting his kids, would actually undermined one son and force the other to participate despite being sick.

 _'Yami, I changed my mind,'_ Yugi told his dark half, who was deathly silent, _'You can do whatever you want.'_

 _'Hey, um...spirit?'_ Ryou reached out tentatively, knowing his darker half was still in the ring somewhere and was proven right by the dark, irritated hum he got in reply, _'I know I don't really like how you do things but...could you...possibly send Leon's father to the Shadow Realm?'_

For a moment, Ryou was afraid he was being ignored, until Akifa finally spoke up, slight amusement coloring his voice, but Ryou wasn't deaf to the malicious and down right murderous undertones, **_'I thought you didn't want anyone to suffer...'_**

 _'Even I have my limits,'_ Ryou pointed out gently, eyes narrowing darkly at the idea of crossing the man who would put-down a bright light like Leon, _'And emotional abuse of a small child is defiantly a line.'_

Once again, Ryou feared he was being ignored, but a chill went up his spine as he felt the immense pleasure radiating from his ring and an image of Akifa's appeared in his mind, grinning with widely with murderous glee, **_'I think we're finally starting to see eye-to-eye...Ryou...'_**

 ** _'He isn't just dueling for family, he's in this to protect his brother,'_** Stephanie realized. _'Like you and Amethyst...'_ Primrose added.

"I know its not exactly normal motive to be in things like this, but..." Leon said. "I get it," Primrose interrupted shaking her head with a soft expression, surprising Leon, "Remember, I'm in this for family too, remember? And one of those family members I'm dueling for, is my big sister," Marco and Star shared a surprised glance at this, "I know how it feels to do everything in your power to be worthy of standing by your older sibling's side," Primrose bowed her head as a deep feeling of strange understanding and sympathy welled in her chest, "Believe me, I get it, which is why I refuse to let things end here! I owe Amy that much."

Leon smiled at this, "Then come at me, Princess Pink! And don't hold back on me!"

Primrose nodded and finally drew her new card and looked at it, before gasping in surprise at the monster who greeted her, mind seeming to race a mile a minute, before speaking, "Leon..." Leon looked to her, "This has been one duel I don't plan to forget..." A smile then formed on her dark pink lips, "But now, I think its time for this to come to an end," Everyone gasped in surprise at her sudden confidence as she turned the card in her hand around to reveal her newly drawn monster, "Starting with this monster, Lapis Lazuli Swan!"

Long streams of blue light shone on her field before her elegant winged-beast emerged, prepared to fight.

"That's good, she's a strong one," Joey said confidently, shooting a side-ways glance at the real Lapis Lazuli, whose eyes were glued to her monster-counterpart in awe. "But not enough to take down Hexe Trude or Sanwitch," Mako said regretfully, he wasn't the only one with a tense stance.

Pearl crossed her arms as she continued to watch the duel.

"And per my Swan's special magic, I can summon as many Crystal Beasts as possible from my hand," Primrose stated with a smile as she plucked her only other monster from her trio of remaining cards, "And thankfully the one I have is the one I need; my Jasper Rhino!" Peridot, Lapis, Bismuth and Jasper gasped at this as the jeweled African mammal took the field, though, Lapis and Jasper looked especially stunned.

"They're strong looking..." Leon said in awe. "And they're about to get even stronger, believe me..." Primrose stated the Peridot, Lapis and Jasper's eyes widened in alarmed-realization as she brought her hands together in a familiar fashion.

Stephanie added regretfully and very apologetic, _'Sorry Lapis...sorry Jasper...'_ Before Primrose recited one last poem:

 _Wings of Water, flying high,_

 _Horn of Earth, unyielding in your ways;_

 _Lethal are the secrets you both keep in spite,_

 _Join together and set my foes ablaze_

Both of her beasts glowed as they joined together, their lights slowly turning and vibrant, powerful shade of green, which slowly took a humanoid shape as Primrose introduced, "Everyone give a warm welcome, to Crystal Myth Malachite Nixie**!"

A blue light shone on her field before diving down and disappearing into the floor. Then, few drops of water fell from seemingly nowhere above the field, before the field's floor began to ripple like the top of a lake or puddle. Then, her monster slowly began to emerge from the wet floor.

Her monster was yet another human female, but was shockingly tall, taller then Sardonyx Dryad and more muscular too, but not overly so, in a more lean, swimmer-like build. Her long hair curled at the end but was otherwise straight, being an inky black with rich, aqua-green tips. Her skin was a fair-tone from the face down to her neck, where her shoulders began to fade into rich green, iridescent scales, matching the ones on her legs, her nails sharpened to resemble claws and her ears were fin-like where they poked out of her thick hair, her eyes were a matching, rich green.

She was dressed in a traditional German dirndl***; the blouse was short-bell-sleeved and off the shoulders, the color being a shade of green that was slightly darker then her scales with a tight-fitting black corset around her abdomen and the skirt was the darkest shade of green, falling past her knees and was torn at the ends and dripping. Oddly, her dress was the only thing dripping well, her hair was strangely dry, and she was bare-foot save for a pair of silvery anklets with malachite beads, three on each side with a matching pair of bracelets and sitting in the center of her corset was a matching silver brooch with a shell-themed design that had a sphere cabochon cut malachite stone attached.

 **Crystal Myth Malachite Nixie. Attribute: WATER. Tribute: AQUA/FUSION/EFFECT. Lv: 8. ATK/DEF: 3500/3500**

"My stars!" Bismuth gasped in shocked-awe. "Malachite..." Peridot whispered in just as much shock.

"She's more powerful then my Blue Eyes!" Seto said in utter disbelieved-shock as the water gathered under Malachite Nixie slowly rose up around her, reminiscent of tentacles. "The only other monster I've seen with power that high is...the Ultimate Dragon!" Maisie added stunned. "She's stronger then Hexe Trude and Forest Wolf!" Joey grinned. "But not Sanwitch, he'll just destroy her on the next attack!" Tristan pointed out.

Pearl was covering her mouth in horrified shock as Marco and Star stared in awe of the dark beauty.

"Of all the Fusions she could've used she just had to use ours..." Jasper muttered hanging her head and shaking it, but noticed Lapis was shaking, hands clenched tight in fists, a look of anger filling her face.

"Whoa..." Rex and Dorothy muttered in awe. "Beautiful..." Mako added in awe.

"She's powerful, but my Sanwitch can wipe her out on the next turn easily," Leon pointed out, "Plus, if I play another magic card, Mage Power will just increase his own power further once I use Hidden Armory to get another weapon for my fairy-tales to use."

"That's assuming you have any monsters by the end of this turn," Primrose smiled mischievously, much to Leon's confusion, as well as everyone else's, "You see, Nixie has this little...special talent, let's say," She then shrugged as Malachite Nixie grinned, reveal two rows of sharp, shark-like teeth, making her opponents all flinch as the skin on her neck flexed to reveal a set of gills, which seemed to release mist and two extra pairs of eyes opened above and below her first pair, "You know what, why don't I just show you; oh Nixie~!" Her Aqua Myth looked over her shoulder with anticipation, "Glacial Tsunami!"

The gemstones on Malachite Nixie's person all started to glow and the rippling effect beneath her extended to the entire field and Nixie slowly raised her arms up as her water tentacles as disappeared. As she did, everyone watched with jaw-dropped expressions of shock as tall walls of water slowly rose up from the field's edge on the fish-woman's command. Hexe Trude, Sanwitch and Forest Wolf all looked around in terror of the raising water.

"It's kinda interesting, so many different cultures all have a different adaption of the mermaid legend," Primrose mused as she leaned forward on her console, watching the rushing water, resting one cheek in one hand, "Scotland have the _selkie_ , the Africans have the _mamiwata_ , Brazil has the _Iara_ , Russia has the _rusalka_ , heck, even Japan has its own version in the _ningyo,_ " She then called, "You can drop it now."

To which Malachite Nixie replied by swinging her arms down and the entire water walls came crashing downwards in one gigantic splash, making everyone else shout in startled-alarm at the wind the hologram managed to stir, even the watching woman up in the rafters was startled. When Leon lowered his arms from shielding his face out of instinct, he gasped in shock; the entire field was now practically a giant pool, not a monster in sight.

"Her monster flooded the entire field!" Bismuth gaped in shock. "No way!" Tristan and Joey gasped in disbelief. "This is just like with the moon in Yugi and Mako's duel," Tea said with wide eyes as they continued to watch. "Look!" Mokuba pointed as three dark shadows suddenly formed in the water, before Hexe Trude, Sanwitch and Forest Wolf all popped up, gasping for breath, but Malachite Nixie was nowhere in sight.

"Strange, did she wipe out her own monster?" Rex questioned in confusion. "I don't think that's it," Yugi said thinking about how Primrose had strangely brought up the whole mermaid legends.

"I fact, German has their own version right?" Primrose asked Leon, who looked to her. "Yeah, but we have different ways to say it, not just Nixie," Leon answered. "But there is one thing all cultures can agree on, even the early Western cultures as a matter of fact," Primrose's smile turned dark and deadly, and it sent a chill up everyone's spines, "That they all lure their victims into the water..." A fourth shadow suddenly began to form, speeding towards Leon's floundering monsters, "And _then_ they pounce!"

Suddenly, without warning, Malachite Nixie lunged out of the water, mouth open wide, like something out of the Jaws movies, making everyone, even Pearl, Marco and Star scream in fright as she wrapped her arms around a very startled Hexe Trude and dragged her underwater. It made Forest Wolf and Sanwitch shriek in alarmed-fear.

"Hexe Trude!" Leon cried. "You know, I've watched the _Jaws Franchise_ so many times," Primrose commented mostly to herself, "But that never gets old."

"I think my heart just stopped," Marco commented hand over his chest. "I hate sharks," Star muttered.

 _(Beach City, Sun Incinerator)_

The Rutile Twins, Rhodonite, Padaparadscha, Connie, Peedee and Ronaldo were all on their butts from the shock of Malachite Nixie's attack. The teens were all laughing at the others, while Lars just had a wide smile on his face and Onion just looked confused.

 _(Duelist Kingdom)_

"Just because you got one, doesn't mean you'll wipe the other two out before Sanwitch can wipe your Nixie out!" Leon told Primrose stubbornly. "It can with Glacial Tsunami in effect," Primrose continued to smile, effectively creeping a few people out and making the shorter members of her audience hide behind the taller ones, "You see, my Nixie just hates groups, especially when she doesn't have backup, so, for the price of half my life-points, she wipes out your entire field," As she spoke, her points dropped as she made a circle in the air, cheek marks glowing as her wild magic formed a glowing pink circle as she did so, to emphasize her point, "And the total of their original attack points comes straight..." She then pointed at a stunned Leon with a more perky smile, "Out of _your_ life points, so, hey, fair trade to me."

 **Primrose LPs: 150**

"Their...original...attack points...?" Leon whispered in horrified-realization. "Yep, which means, this duel is over," Primrose remarked as Malachite Nixie suddenly emerged again, this time riding a small wave, making a wide upward arch with her arm, sending Forest Wolf careening upwards on a tall wave of water, "And I'll be taking my bunny and kitty back, please and thank you."

The sudden force caused Forest Wolf to hurl up both Pearl Cottontail and Ruby Carbuncle, who both cried out at being free, only to start screeching in terror as they realized they were falling straight towards open water. Malachite Nixie suddenly shot out of the water superhero style, catching the two mid-air and just as she started to fall, a whirlpool-like spurt of water shot up beneath her feet, lowering her down safely towards the water's surface, where it froze solid into a patch of ice under her feet, allowing her to set the two down.

"Nice save!" Tristan complemented as Malachite Nixie patted the two smallest members of Crystal Beasts' heads, before diving back into the water. "Not to mention a perfect dive!" Mako added, "Did you see that form?"

Suddenly, Lapis shoved herself away from the railing, turned and ran off, the movement only caught three people's reactions, Peridot and Joey called out in confusion as she made for the stairs, "Lapis?"

"I believe this is what some would call checkmate, Leon," Stephanie stated as she and Primrose switched forms as Malachite Nixie pounced one more time, this time from behind Sanwitch. "I...I lost..." Leon said with stunned eyes as his life points dropped in their entirety.

 **Leon LPs: 0**

"Winner of the first duel of Block B!" Croquet announced as Pearl once again showed her hologram, framing Stephanie's picture and duplicating it to the next block, and fading own Leon's, "Princess Stephanie Quartz-Butterfly!"

"Wow, she actually did it," Tristan smiled bittersweatly. "She won," Tea nodded. "Poor Leon..." Mokuba mumbled looking at his friend.

"Leon, I-" Stephanie started but stopped as the holograms faded from the field and she realized Leon's frame was shaking, his head hung in defeat, immediately everyone's hearts sank, even Seto, being remained of when Mokuba was that small, "Oh Leon...I'm so sorry..."

Imagine everyone's immense surprise when Leon suddenly threw his head back, revealing a wide, happy grin on his face as he started laughing, "What for?" He gave her the widest, bright-eyed expression of happiness she's ever seen, "I just had the greatest duel of my entire life!" He laughed a little more before pointing out his more positive outcome of the duel, "I didn't just duel a princess, but I got her life points to under a thousand; how many duelists can say that?" Leon continued to laugh a little bit more and Stephanie gave a tiny, if a little unsure, one back, glad he was looking on the bright side.

"Right," She agreed, deciding not to mention her duel with Mai. Sudden clapping made both duelists turn to where Pegasus was standing and applauding them. "What a marvelous show of good sportsmanship," Pegasus smiled bemusedly, "It's so heart-warming to see that even in the midst of high tension of the finals and with family on the line, friendships can still hold so strong," He turned, staring directly into Stephanie's eyes as he asked innocently, "Right, Little Quartz?" Stephanie instinctively took a small step back, a frown blooming on her face.

Once done with his clapping, Pegasus sat back down, ignoring the stares from Marco and Star, and the glares from remaining in the balcony, instead he turn to Pearl and Croquet, "Proceed with the next match."

"The second duel of Block B shall be Mako Tsunami VS Dorothy Hale," Croquet stated, "Will the Finalists please make your way to the arena."

"Looks like we're next," Mako said turning to Dorothy. "Looks like, prepared to have your fish sashimied and deep-fried," Dorothy grinned. "In your dreams," Mako scoffed playfully. "We'll see~!" Dorothy replied in a singsong voice as Peridot and Joey hurried down the stairs first after Lapis.

"Hey, Stephanie?" Leon called surprising the hybrid when she was about to leave the arena. "You said my name..." Stephanie murmured in surprise. "Don't stop dueling until you beat Pegasus, okay?" Leon told her, much to Pegasus' amusement and Stephanie's furthered surprise. But she smiled reassuringly and touched, and nodded, making Leon nod back before suddenly turning around and jumping, suggesting he had been standing on something.

 _'I promise you Leon,'_ Stephanie silently vowed as she watched Leon walk away, _'I don't ever plan to stop, not when I've gotten this far.'_ With that in mind, she turned and walked away as well.

Up on the rafters, the woman continued to watch this before huffing and disappeared into another portal, never once aware of the sad looking spirit of Cecilia Nimbussia Diaz-Butterfly standing behind her, watching her with regret and longing. Cecilia sighed before disappearing.

When Leon opened the door that exited the arena's room, Leon softly closed, hanging his head again as he leaned back against it. His smile slowly vanished, the corners of his lips twitched as they pressed together and he clenched his fingers into the fabric of his pants. A tear slowly trickled down on cheek, then another down the other, and more started to join as he slid down onto the floor.

Just as Stephanie closed the door to the arena, she was immediate met with a shout, "Stephanie!"

She turned around in surprised-confusion, catching sight of Joey and Peridot, then a flurry of blue filled her vision.

 ** _SMACK!_**

Then, Stephanie's head snapped to one side.

Slowly, mostly in disbelief, her movement almost robotic despite its hesitance, one hand rose up to gingerly touch her stinging cheek, flinching instinctively at the pinch of protest the probed skin made. Slowly, she turned her head.

There stood Lapis Lazuli. Chest heaving as if she suddenly had lungs and ran a marathon with them. Shoulders shaking with what she recognized as rage. Eyes shimmering with tears. One hand raised up.

 _'Did Lapis...'_ Stephanie thought in utter-shock through the blank void, _'Did Lapis just...'_

 _'Slap me?'_

* * *

 **Now how's THAT for a cliffhanger?**

 **Before anyone complains, need I remind you that Jasper basically outed that her relationship with Lapis was a two-way street of abuse? And that Lapis didn't deny it? I mean, remember how she broke Peridot's tape-recorder? I know Lapis is more or less turned around now, but, a lot of people have pointed out that she's never apologized for all the things she's done to others as far as we know, never reconciled with anyone really. So, is that hard to believe that she'd physically hit someone? Sure, she reframed herself from hurting those other two Lazuli in Future, but I'm talking about before Diamond Days.**

 **But before anyone points out that she'd never hurt Steven, or Stephanie in this case, need I point out that everyone responds to anger and stressers differently? I mean, how would Lapis react had she seen another a different Malachite? There's no way to truly predict what anyone would really do under certain circumstances, so I feel this just a wee bit justified, even if I don't condone cinnamon roll abuse.**

 **And gawd, I'm meeeaaaannn! I made Leon cry! Now I'm crying a little!**

 **Lowkey, I do not like Leon's parents at all, like, who picks favorites with kids? No one should, that's who! Also, I de-aged Zigfried in this just cause: I like the idea of Zigfried being a good big brother, the age difference works better like this, I think Zigfried looks cute as a kid, both kid-Zigfried and baby-Leon are super cute, and this is my story and I'll damn well do as I please! Take your pick.**

 **On that note, I'm going to get on with the *notes before I go into the 10,000 word mark again, and my inner writer kills me:**

 **Gracias a Dios...!*: Is Spanish for "Thank God...!", self explanatory there.**

 **Nixie**: As Primrose has stated is the German version of the Mermaid legend, I really had to think long and hard about what myth I wanted Malachite to be, I knew it was going to be a water-based myth because of Malachite's use of Lapis' water-abilities, but I wanted something original, and I happened across this, let me know what you guys think.**

 **Dirndl***: Is a traditional German apron dress that's either an entire dress and the apron, or a skirt, blouse and the apron. Look it up, the sites can explain it better then I can.**

 **Now, on to the unofficial polls:**

 _ **Should Yugi keep his title as King of Games? Or should Stephanie become the Queen of Games?**_

 _ **King: 8, Queen: 2**_

 _ **Should Stephanie get an Egyptian God Card?**_

 _ **Yes: 5, No: 6**_

 _ **If yes, however temporarily, which one?**_

 _ **Obelisk: 2, Ra: 1, Slifer: 1**_

 **Huh, so no new votes; that's fine, that's hunky-dori! Yeah, I can't believe some of stuff I blurt...**

 **Anyways, still time to vote, so no pressure. Now, as for the official poll about an alternate set of God Cards for Steph:**

 **Well, Greek is still in the lead with eight votes; Roman, Norse and Mayan are all tied, surprisingly, with seven votes each, and Mesopotamian brings up the rear with five votes.**

 **So...yeah. I hope you guys all enjoyed the chapter! And I hope everyone's doing okay with quarantine! Stay inside and keep healthy!**

 **Till next time!**


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